As adjustments are under consideration by President Trump on Bears Ears National Monument, Representative Rob Bishop is hoping to see the Navajo Tribe in that area become co-managers of the land. According to Bishop, the goal of the Public Lands Initiative was to protect Bears Ears and allow traditional activities to take place while Obama’s proclamation covered everything and made the local tribe powerless advisors to the BLM. Changes could be on the horizon, however, because the U.S. Secretary of the Interior sent a draft report to President Trump on Thursday with his recommendations for national monuments. This was in response to President Trump’s executive order in April to review the monuments and Bears Ears was one of eight national monuments that Secretary Zinke visited and focused on during his 120-day review. Bishop says now it will depend on what President Trump decides to do with the recommendations but Bishop says he will be ready to assist in adding specific language to guarantee traditional activities and ensure that co-management is given to the Native Americans actually living in the Bears Ears area. “I want them to have control over how that land will be managed,” says Bishop, “real control, not an advisory role.”
