Date of Award
5-2021
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
International Studies BA
Department
History
First Advisor
Heather Stur, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
History
Abstract
In 2015, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition of the Hopi, Navajo, Uintah and Ouray Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni Tribes submitted a proposal to President Barack Obama for the creation of Bears Ears National Monument. In 2016, using the power given to the president in the Antiquities Act, President Obama issued a presidential proclamation establishing the monument. But in 2017, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that significantly reduced the acreage of the monument. Bears Ears is located in the southeast corner of Utah, and is a remote and geographically unique area of land that holds historical, cultural, and religious significance for many Native American tribes. This paper explores the creation and modification of the monument, the controversy over the president’s authority to create, reduce, and revoke national monuments, and the international applications of the Bears Ears story. The argument of this paper is that the original borders of Bears Ears National Monument should be restored because the authority to alter a national monument rests with Congress, not the president, and because Bears Ears is the beginning of an era of integrating land conservation with social and environmental justice.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Greene, Helen, "Bears Ears National Monument: An Integration of Social and Environmental Justice" (2021). Honors Theses. 806.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/806