Trump Administration Auctions off Parcels in Bears Ears

Trump Administration Auctions off Parcels in Bears Ears
The Interior Department on Tuesday is auctioning off 32 parcels of public lands in southeastern Utah for oil and gas development. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) lease sale includes more than 51,000 acres of land near Bears Ears—the national monument significantly scaled back by the Trump administration last year—as well as the Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients monuments. The Trump administration has aggressively pushed for fossil fuels. Even though Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkehas previously insisted “this is not about energy,” Interior Department documents made public by the New York Times earlier this month showed that gaining access to the oil, gas and uranium deposits in Bears Ears and coalreserves in Grand Staircase-Escalante were key reasons behind the drastic cuts to the two Utah monuments. http://bit.ly/2DTWIWY – Ecowatch

BLM Ignores National Park Service Request to Spare Parcels Near Hovenweep from Oil Leasing
The Bureau of Land Management disregarded a request by the National Park Service that it hold off leasing 17,000 acres of public land in Utah on Tuesday because of concerns that drilling there could harm Hovenweep National Monument’s views and air, groundwater and sound quality. All 13 parcels were sold online as part of a broader sale, with the lease prices ranging from $3 to roughly $91 an acre. According to an Oct. 23 letter, the Park Service outlined concerns about future oil and gas drilling activities on not just Hovenweep, but also three other sites under its jurisdiction in southern Utah: Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Natural Bridges National Monument. https://wapo.st/2DUeERc – Washington Post

Conservation Groups Note Opposition to New Oil and Gas Leases
Conservationists have protested the sale of 32 parcels as being contrary to federal laws and regulations. “We won’t sit idly by while President Trump and Interior Secretary Zinke auction off America’s cultural and public lands heritage to the oil and gas industry,” said Stephen Bloch, legal director with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “This lease sale flies in the face of historic preservation and environmental laws that Congress put in place to make sure that BLM thinks before it acts; not ‘lease first, and think later.’” http://bit.ly/2pG1Cli – Center For Biological Diversity

Chaco Needs Congressional Leadership
Now people are, once again, coming together again to defend Greater Chaco, and the genius of this modern gathering of people lies at the intersection of climate justice and social justice. Earlier this month, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke unexpectedly halted the proposed sale of 4,434 acres of public minerals in the Greater Chaco region to the oil and gas industry. But make no mistake, this is only a momentary reprieve.  Zinke’s decision came as a result of unprecedented opposition from Pueblo and Navajo leaders, New Mexico’s congressional delegation, environmental groups and countless citizen activists opposed to the continued desecration of sacred lands. Delaying the sale means the Bureau of Land Management will complete an extensive cultural report, which will be used to inform decisions about whether to allow drilling in the area. http://bit.ly/2GrpRhu – Santa Fe New Mexican

It Is Past Time for a Chaco Buffer Zone
More than a decade ago, the state Land Office offered to determine a reasonable buffer for its lands around Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico to protect the national monument/national historic park/World Heritage Site from the sight and noise of drilling rigs tapping fossil fuels.  It would have been a solid benchmark to determine how close is close enough for development to Chaco’s “massive buildings of the ancestral Pueblo peoples (that) still testify to the organizational and engineering abilities not seen anywhere else in the American Southwest.” And in the ensuing decade-plus, guess what’s happened? Nothing. http://bit.ly/2I1Rye0 – Albuquerque Journal

Podcast: The Time of the Indian Expert Is Over – It’s Time for Expert Indians
On March 3, 2018, Lyle Balenquah hosted a live panel on Bears Ears National Monument with indigenous activists at Friends of Cedar Mesa’s annual Celebrate Cedar Mesa event. In addition to Lyle himself, the panel also featured Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk (former co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Councilwoman and current Education Coordinator for the Ute Indian Museum), Ed Kabotie (Hopi/Tewa artist, musician, and activist) and Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi, Filmmaker and Cultural Resources Coordinator for Utah Diné Bikeyah). The four talk about their experiences with Bears Ears National Monument, but also use the topic to discuss larger issues, including tribal sovereignty. http://bit.ly/2GlfKLc – Heritage Voices

Chairman of All Pueblo Governors on Bears Ears Fiasco
The past months have not been kind to Native American nations, tribes and pueblos. We are still reeling from the announcement by the administration that it would act on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to slash the size of two landscapes very important to our people – Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. We had been very clear about the benefits these monuments provide in conserving our cultures’ ancient artifacts, sites and sacred landscapes. And we were not listened to. http://bit.ly/2DRvPmE – Albuquerque Journal

Department of Interior Emails Highlight the Disrespect Federal Officials Show to Native Americans
n December 15, 2016, four members of Utah’s congressional delegation sent a letter to President Barack Obama, who was about to designate Bears Ears National Monument. The legislators—senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, and representatives Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz—told Obama that a monument designation, made under the Antiquities Act, could harm some of their most vulnerable constituents. http://bit.ly/2Go6sxV – Outside

Editorial: Mr. President, Safeguard Our National Monuments
As a former member of the U.S. armed forces, I swore an oath to uphold the rights and liberties guaranteed in our Constitution. For me, and for many veterans, that includes protecting our public lands. They are part of what makes America great. The freedom to go out and be in these beautiful wild places that embody our nation’s spirit – its history and its future – is worth defending. That’s why I recently joined more than one thousand former military leaders who posted a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to maintain the boundaries of our national monuments. http://bit.ly/2Gr0JHN – Albuquerque Journal

Colorado Representative Proposes Funding National Parks and Monuments through Energy Leases
Federal lands would become a bigger source of revenue that helps maintain the infrastructure of national parks under a proposal supported this week by Colorado U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton. Tipton, R-Cortez, asked expert witnesses during a congressional hearing about the possibility of using leases and fees on energy companies to clear away an $11.6 billion maintenance backlog in national parks. http://bit.ly/2DTkAtG – Durango Herald

Archaeology Café (Tucson): Spanish Colonial and Mexican Period Life in Tucson
On Tuesday, April 3, 2018, historical archaeologist Homer Thiel will help café attendees become better acquainted with Spanish Colonial and Mexican Period Life in Tucson. Tradition says that on August 20, 1775, Regular Spanish Army Lt. Colonel Hugo O’Conor, of Irish decent, chose what is now downtown Tucson as the site of the historic Presidio San Agustin del Tucson. From that point until 1856, when the Americans took over the region following the Gadsen Purchase, Tucson was first part of the Spanish colonies, and later a piece of Mexico. We meet at The Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway Blvd) after 5:30 p.m. The program takes place at 6:00 p.m. in theatre 1, which can accommodate up to 375 guests. You can pick up your free tickets from The Loft Cinema box office anytime the day of the Café. (Limit two tickets per person.) This program is made possible, in part, by The Smith Living Trust and Arizona Humanities. http://bit.ly/2DThZAi – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez
As a part of the Four Corners Lecture Series, the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeology Society is pleased to present Kathryn Turney on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Methodist Church, 515 Park Street, Cortez, CO to discuss “Social Consequences of Land Loss: Navajo Oral History, Ethnoarchaeology, and Spatial Analysis at Wupatki National Monument, AZ.” Kathryn discusses how the creation of Wupatki National Monument in 1924 gradually displaced indigenous residents from ancestral homelands leading to loss of territory and connection to family. Contact Kari Schleher at 505-269-4475 with questions.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Robert S. Weiner, M.A., Research Affiliate, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University Research Fellow, The Solstice Project; Author, “A Sensory Approach to Exotica Ritual Practice, and Cosmology at Chaco Canyon” (in Kiva), and “Sociopolitical, Ceremonial, and Economic Aspects of Gambling in Ancient North America: A Case Study of Chaco Canyon” (in Antiquity), who will give a lecture “Chaco Canyon Gambling” on April 2 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge The Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: southwestseminars.org

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
Tucson archaeologist Dr. Michael Lindeman will present “Phoenix Underground: Archaeological Excavations at the Hohokam Village of La Villa” for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s April 19, 6-8:30 p.m. “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at Karichimaka Mexican Restaurant, 5252 S. Mission Road, Tucson. During two excavation sessions, archaeologists from Desert Archaeology, Inc., discovered remarkably well-preserved features at La Villa spanning nearly 400 years of occupation under the streets of Phoenix, including 154 pithouses, 92 mortuary features and a village plaza. No entry fee. Guests may purchase their own dinners. Reservations required before 5 p.m. April 18: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.