Five months ago, President Obama named Bears Ears a national monument. This is an expanse of land in Utah. And, boy, are the locals hoppin’ mad about it. As we drove through the area, we saw cars that had a bumper sticker in the shape of a bear that said “no monument.”
A few months before he made his decision, I media trained some Native American Elders when they came to Washington, DC to encourage Obama to protect this sacred place. I knew it was controversial among the locals but until I was in the middle of it, I had no idea how hot under the collar people were, and still are. The local paper was 10 pages long. Seven of the pages were dedicated to covering Bear Ears, editorializing about it, or writing letters expressing outrage against it.
This gave me an idea. One of the editorials (or was it coverage…honestly hard to tell) was a local saying that area businesses were missing out on the recreation boom coming to the area because of the monument status. Already outsider outfitters were bringing people in for $2500 for a four-day tour. He encouraged locals who know the area best to get in on the game before it is too late.
This seems like a brilliant way to approach this and likely should have happened before the monument decision got made so that more locals could see why a protected landscape was both a conservation and economic legacy that would benefit the region.
The question is: can this situation be reset in a way that does not pit locals against environmentalists in which everyone will suffer and not achieve their ambitions for the area? Much like the ‘buy local’ movement which has seen real success in urban areas, perhaps these rural regions need a ‘go local’ counterpart that encourages sportsmen and tourists to keep the dollars in the local area to make it worth the locals while to see Bears Ears and other protected areas as a treasure that gives back to the community rather than a restricted area run by faceless bureaucrats in Washington, DC. Groups like Outdoor Industry Association or Conservation Alliance could hold Skype sessions with small business entrepreneurs from other localities who can share wisdom and lessons learned about starting and sustaining businesses. Before monuments or other protections are placed on areas, we should generate funds from private and public sources to help these start-ups get up and going. These anti-grudge funds can help forge a shared destiny between people who previously might have seen themselves on opposite sides of a debate. It marries the three best assets an area has—talent, stewardship ethic, and beautiful place—and offers them an outlet to turn that into something the community can be proud of.
When people have an ownership stake in conserving a special place, and are seen as the experts making that possible, we can reduce resource conflicts, create up-and-coming economies, and get the chance to spend some time with those who can share with us what is so special about places like Bears Ears.
Adventures in LuLu 