Three years ago, I had never heard of Bears Ears. Today, it’s all I can think about.
Last weekend, my wife and I drove to Salt Lake to participate in the pre-emptive rally against Trump’s expected rescinding of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. We were surrounded by impassioned, intelligent and compassionate people. We listened to speakers ranging from a precocious and enlightened 10-year-old from Hawaii to a prayerful Navajo elder. We watched Native American dancers. It was an amazing, uplifting event.
This morning, I forced myself to listen to Trump speak at the Utah State Capitol in front of a hand-picked crowd of supporters. Thankfully, it was over quickly. The contrast to the public rally on Saturday was stark and overwhelming. Trump performed like an MC at the opening of a new strip mall. He used an amazingly twisted logic to explain himself: “We have to remove protection in order to protect.” He even invited Mike Lee to say a few words. Remember how Lee campaigned against candidate Trump? (What a hypocrite – sad!)
Trump lied, saying he is opening the land back up to the public – giving us access to our own lands. In reality, this access was never taken away. But he didn’t mention the real reason for shrinking the monuments: oil, gas, coal and timber extraction. Why won’t Trump and his oil and gas supporters ever come out and speak the truth? If they are so proud of their ability to “make America great again” by exploiting the natural resources of our lands, why won’t they come out and say it?
Now, the legal fight over our monuments has begun. Native American and environmental groups have already filed lawsuits against Trump. We need to do everything we can to help with this fight. If Trump and his cronies get away with rescinding Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, where will they stop? The Grand Canyon? Yellowstone?
Pick a group to join and support: Native American Rights Fund, Canyon Country Rising Tide, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Wilderness Society. Don’t just sit there thinking somebody else will do this for us – we all have to fight back against the greed and corruption that is killing our planet.
