Statement: HECHO Celebrates Restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

Today, President Biden restored Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, carrying out a campaign promise to protect more than 2 million acres of national public lands, and making good on his America the Beautiful initiative.

For time immemorial, Bears Ears National Monument has been stewarded by the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe, and Pueblo of Zuni, who have been advocating for the protection of this culturally and archeologically significant landscape. Together, they are the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and they recently published a letter to the White House urging protection for the sacred site where religious ceremonies continue to take place. President Biden’s announcement comes on the eve of Indigenous People’s Day and evokes the importance of prioritizing Indigenous perspectives in the management of our public lands.

Press Releases/Statements, MonumentsGuest UserOctober 8, 2021Statement, Public Lands, National Monuments, Utah, Mark Archuleta Wheatley, Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Indigenous Peoples Day, Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful, 30x30Comment

Op-ed: We all must speak up to protect our national monuments

By Arizona state Rep. Mark Cardenas, Utah state Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck and Nevada state Sen. Mo Denis

As state representatives of the Southwest, we are concerned about the future of our national monuments. Right now, both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are under attack, and the public has just a short window to weigh in.

Both of these monuments are in Utah, but they are vital to us all, as they safeguard our nation’s diverse history and cultural heritage. Our voices are part of the two-thirds of western voters, and 86 percent of Latino voters in the west, who say that reducing these monuments is a bad idea. We are proud to have public lands in our backyard — lands that belong to all of us.

HECHO in the NewsGuest BloggerNovember 14, 2018Op-Ed, Arizona, Mark Cardenas, Advisory Board, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Utah, Moises Denis, Nevada, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Bears Ears National Monument, National Monuments, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)Comment

Blog: “Energy Dominance” Policy on our Public Lands, Not Popular in the West

The 2018 Colorado College Conservation in the West Poll was just released last month, finding that the Trump Administration’s energy and environmental polices are unpopular in the West. It also reconfirmed what HECHO already knows – that more and more Latinos are identifying as conservationist. Here are some highlights from this year’s poll that we thought you’d be interested in.

Oil & GasGuest BloggerFebruary 12, 2018Latino Vote, Public Lands, Outdoor Recreation, Grand Canyon, Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, National Parks, Methane Waste, National MonumentsComment

Statement: HECHO Condemns President Trump's Announcement to Shrink Monuments

HECHO condemns yesterday's announcement by President Trump that he intends to roll back protections of more public lands than ever before in our history by reducing Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by half.

Press Releases/Statements, MonumentsCamilla SimonDecember 5, 2017Statement, Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Antiquities Act, National Monuments, Advisory Board, Rebecca Chavez-HouckComment

Op-ed: Leave Utah's National Monuments Alone

Read what Utah State Representative and HECHO Board Member Rebecca Chavez-Houck had to say about President Trump's upcoming visit to Utah, and plans to shrink our beloved National Monuments. This article originally appeared as an op-ed in Utah's Deseret News on November 23, 2017.

HECHO in the News, MonumentsGuest BloggerNovember 29, 2017Op-Ed, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Advisory Board, Utah, National Monuments, Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Antiquities ActComment

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