2017
16
Apr
Congress Takes Aim at Bears Ears
Congress Takes Aim at Bears Ears
In January, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the recently designated Bears Ears National Monument in his state a “travesty.” Hatch vowed to work with President Donald Trump to reverse the December 2016 designation, a stance that many other Utah Republicans have ...
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2017
09
Apr
The President Lacks the Authority to Rescind National Monuments
Former Interior Department Lawyer: The President Lacks the Authority to Rescind National Monuments
"I think it is very legally difficult to unwind those decisions. The real test will be in the details if there is a rescission of any monument. Congress delegated authority to the president to designat...
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2017
26
Mar
Fire Adds Richness to the Land
Fire Adds Richness to the Land
The Jemez Mountains are “the poster child” of wildfire problems in the Southwestern U.S. Residents recall too well the evacuations of Los Alamos during the 2000 Cerro Grande and 2011 Las Conchas Fires. They also recall the enormous plumes of smoke rising over our m...
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2017
19
Mar
The Bears Ears Report
Tribal Commission on Bears Ears Declares Revocation of Monument Status Would Be Tragic
Members of a newly formed tribal advisory commission for the Bears Ears National Monument reminded Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in a letter Friday that his agency must partner with them, and warned him that resci...
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2017
13
Mar
Seven Southwestern Archaeology Groups Advocating for Protecting Bears Ears Monument Status
Seven Southwestern Archaeology Groups Advocating for Protecting Bears Ears Monument Status
Seven archaeology groups in the southwest have asked the new Interior secretary to support the Bears Ears national monument designation. Utah lawmakers are calling for an elimination of the monument. Former P...
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2017
27
Feb
Identification of a Powerful Matrilineal Descent Line at Pueblo Bonito
Identification of a Powerful Matrilineal Descent Line at Pueblo Bonito
They believe that power and influence in Chaco Canyon was hierarchical, belonged to this small group of people and was passed down through a female line between 800 and 1130 A.D. “At the center of Chaco is an elite matriline,...
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2017
19
Feb
"Kennewick Man" Repatriated
"Kennewick Man" Repatriated
Less than 24 hours after they were inventoried in Seattle, the remains of the Ancient One — also known as Kennewick Man — were laid to rest at a private ceremony at an undisclosed location Saturday, according Colville tribal chairman Michael Marchand. The repatriat...
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2017
29
Jan
Oil Drilling Closes in on Chaco Canyon
Oil Drilling Closes in on Chaco Canyon
On January 25, the Bureau of Land Management leased nearly 850 acres of land for drilling in northwest New Mexico, netting close to $3 million. The agency offers leases on millions of acres of public land per year, but this latest sale was unusual. Not only was...
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2017
15
Jan
The Monument Wars
The Monument Wars
In the West, where I currently live, we have our own unfinished wars: the Indian wars. I was reminded of how unfinished they are this fall, when I attended a demonstration led by Native Americans against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The protest took place in front of the statehouse ...
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2017
01
Jan
Bears Ears, Gold Butte Designated National Monuments
Bears Ears, Gold Butte Designated National Monuments
Rising from the center of the southeastern Utah landscape and visible from every direction are twin buttes so distinctive that in each of the native languages of the region their name is the same: Hoon'Naqvut, Shash Jáa, Kwiyagatu Nukavachi, Ansh...
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2016
13
Nov
Can National Monuments Be Dissolved?
Can National Monuments Be Dissolved?
As his presidential tenure winds down in the coming weeks, Barack Obama is expected to decide whether to designate some proposed national monuments, including Bears Ears in Utah and two others on Utah's borders with neighboring states. But Donald Trump's surpris...
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2016
06
Nov
What You Need to Know about the Dakota Access Pipeline Conflict
What You Need to Know about the Dakota Access Pipeline Conflict
In recent weeks, protests against the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline across North Dakota have escalated. Native American elders, families and children have set up tepees and tents on a campsite near the pipeline’s path in the...
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