BLM Releases Draft Monument-Management Plans for Grand Staircase, Bears Ears

BLM Releases Draft Monument-Management Plans for Grand Staircase, Bears Ears
Most of the lands removed from southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument would be available to coal mining and oil or gas drilling under federal draft plans released Wednesday, putting nearly 700,000 acres in play that otherwise would have been off-limits to mineral extraction. http://bit.ly/2BAQSOh — Salt Lake Tribune

Commentary: Draft Monument-Management Plans Are Flawed
Today, an assortment of local and national groups, and globally-respected scientist organizations, denounced the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) release of draft management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as another step toward shrinking and destroying both. Despite unresolved legal challenges and a warning from 16 Senators in April to hold off on further planning, Secretary Zinke has pushed Interior and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to hastily craft management plans—spending nearly 2 million taxpayer dollars so far—that do not reflect the original boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, or the public’s desire for these treasured places to be protected from mining and drilling. http://bit.ly/2OYZ8K5 — Monuments for All

Commentary: Plans Are a Non-Starter
“The proposed monument boundaries in and around Bears Ears and Grand Staircase are not final due to the extensive outcry from the American people and numerous lawsuits filed, challenging the administration’s illegal attempts to do so. Until the courts determine where Bears Ears and Grand Staircase land protections stand, planning and managing for the sites in question are a waste of taxpayer resources and should be a nonstarter.” http://bit.ly/2o0L2fH — National Parks Conservation Association

But Then…
The Interior Department canceled a proposal to potentially sell public land that was once protected inside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument before its boundary was redrawn, saying it contradicted Secretary Ryan Zinke’s assurance last year that he would not do so. https://wapo.st/2o08l9e — Washington Post

Advocacy Opportunity: Comment on the Draft Management Plans
BLM is initiating a 90-day comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Monument Management Plans (MMPs) for the Indian Creek and Shash Jaa units of Bear Ears National Monument. A notice of availability will be published in the Federal Register on Aug. 17 and the draft documents will be available for review on BLM’s ePlanning website. They’re accepting comments through Nov. 15. Email- blm_ut_monticello_monuments@blm.gov. Mail- BLM, Canyon Country District Office, 82 East Dogwood, Moab, UT 84532, Attention: Lance Porter. http://bit.ly/2BB1j4x — KUTV

SAPIENS Introduces Podcast Series
SAPIENS podcast hosts Jen Shannon, Esteban Gómez, and Chip Colwell speak with anthropologists from around the globe to help us uncover what makes us human. Listen and subscribe now to learn more. The SAPIENS podcast is an editorially independent series supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation and produced by House of Pod. — sapiens.org/sapiens-podcast/

Forest Service Archaeologists and Fire Management
When wildfire starts, a lot of people decide what areas should burn, and where a fire should be fought. One of those people is an archaeologist from the U.S. Forest Service. https://n.pr/2o1nbfI — NPR

Recommendations to U.S. Council on Environmental Quality: More Robust Tribal Consultation
On August 20, Archaeology Southwest joined more than 10,000 citizens and organizations in responding to the call from the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality for recommendations to the Council’s regulations (40 CRF 1500) implementing the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, our nation’s bedrock statute for assuring consideration of cultural and biophysical resources potentially affected by federal government agency actions. Archaeology Southwest’s comments regarding National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations included responses to some of the 20 questions posed in the docket, as well as specific recommendations for regulatory updates. The comments were prepared by William H. Doelle, President and CEO, and John R. Welch, Landscape & Site Preservation Program Director. In their comments, Welch and Doelle consistently emphasized the necessity of meaningful, robust, and creative tribal consultation, public input, and scientific rigor in NEPA implementation. http://bit.ly/2o7eaSF — Archaeology Southwest

Grand Canyon Science in Jeopardy?
Twenty-three million dollars will be swept from the “Basin Fund” which supports Grand Canyon research and ensures Glen Canyon Dam operates in compliance with federal laws like the Endangered Species Act. Hydropower revenues have funded this work for more than two decades. But the Western Area Power Administration was ordered by President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget to send the money to the U.S. Treasury instead of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, starting October 1. http://bit.ly/2MoGgHv — KNAU

Commentary: Support the Antiquities Act, Not the PURE Act
The passage of the PURE Act would create more barriers to Utah citizens who believe in protecting cultural resources. It would strip away Utahn’s ability to appeal to the executive branch on matters of public lands, making action especially difficult when their representatives refuse to listen. The PURE Act has only one purpose — to disenfranchise conservationists in Utah. http://bit.ly/2MqAPHX — Salt Lake Tribune

Blog: The Ancestors around Us
People have lived in Arizona for perhaps 12,000 years or more. Hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, have died within the modern political boundaries of our state. Their remains are routinely found during archaeological projects or during ground-disturbing activities. What happens when remains are found? Who should you contact? http://bit.ly/2P03Nvf — Homer Thiel, Desert Archaeology

Blog: Greater Chaco from the Air
Together with EcoFlight, a nonprofit based in Aspen, Colorado, Archaeology Southwest participated in a series of flights over Chaco Canyon and the Greater Chaco Landscape on August 2, 2018. Bruce Gordon, EcoFlight’s president, piloted the plane on our four trips from the Farmington, New Mexico, airport south to Chaco Canyon and then back north up the Great North Road. http://bit.ly/2MoOWO1 — Paul F. Reed, Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity, Santa Fe NM
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Keith Malcolm Prufer, Archaeologist and Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico; Co-editor, In the Maw of the Earth Monster: Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use; and Stone Houses and Earth Lords: Maya Religion in the Cave Context will give a lecture New Insights in Early Central and South American Population Dispersal: Archaeology and DNA at 6pm on August 27 at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Native Culture Matters Lecture Series. 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: southwestseminar@aol.com; website: southwestseminars.org

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