MONTICELLO, Utah -- The movement to restore the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah gets a major boost this weekend when a hand-carved symbolic totem pole makes a stop Saturday on its tour from the west coast to Washington, D.C.

The Red Road to D.C. Totem Pole Journey is designed to highlight sacred sites across the U.S. that are at risk.

Angelo Baca, cultural resources coordinator for the nonprofit Utah Diné Bikéyah, a group working to restore and protect the national monument, explained that tribal communities with ancestral ties to Bears Ears are asking the Biden Administration to restore a significant portion of the area that was removed in 2017.

"We will want the full restoration and possible extension of the Bears Ears landscape, because it's the right thing to do," Baca contended. "Historically, socially, culturally and environmentally, a restoration of justice."

Shortly after taking office, then-President Donald Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears by 85% and neighboring Grand Staircase-Escalante by half. Former President Barack Obama ordered protected status for the areas in 2016.

Baca noted the totem pole's stop at Bears Ears is symbolic of tribal nations supporting each other.

"We've always pushed for the original proposal, the 1.9 million acres that need protection," Baca pointed out. "We've maintained the reduction by the previous administration was not done in good faith and on shaky legal ground."

The totem pole was hand-carved by Jewell James, a member of the Lummi Nation in Washington state, in honor of Native American Deb Haaland's being appointed Secretary of the Interior.

Following its 10-stop tour, the totem pole will be featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

"The significance of the totem pole stopping in Bears Ears is the solidarity and expression of support from many tribes across the nation for protecting sacred land," Baca remarked. "This is just a continuation of that respectful relationship that's already been established."

A blessing ceremony for the totem pole is set for 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time at the Bears Ears Monument. For those who cannot attend, the event will be livestreamed on Facebook.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

New Mexico's national parks generally operate year-round - but they might not operate at 100% efficiency this year due to employee firings, layoffs and buyouts. Earlier this year, the Trump administration told some 2,500 National Park Service workers to resign or retire and promised still more cuts to the agency. Responding to criticism about the move, the U.S. Interior Secretary ordered national parks and historic sites to "remain open and accessible."

Kate Groetzinger, communications manager of the Center for Western Priorities, believes that's a dilemma for park-goers.

"Visitors could be put at risk by not having adequate search and rescue staff available. So, ordering the parks to reopen without adequate staff is a bad idea," she contended. "It doesn't serve anyone."

Frequent park users worry that cuts could result in staffing problems this summer, along with closed restrooms and maintenance issues including limited trash removal. New Mexico has 15 areas within the National Park System, including parks, monuments, historic sites and trails.

A former oil executive with links to the Department of Energy Efficiency led by Elon Musk has been promoted to oversee policy, management and budget at the Interior Department. Groetzinger says Western Priorities is concerned the public could be left in the dark about future park decisions being made by unelected officials.

"It really just is a full-on attack on outdoor recreation in the United States. Anyone who camps, hikes, bikes, climbs - anyone who enjoys our public lands should be shocked and concerned about the attacks," she continued.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also has ordered a detailed review of every park's operating hours, trail closures and other visitor services. Groetzinger believes trust in federal institutions like the parks is being eroded - opening the door to privatization and ultimately increased costs for users.


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The number of mining claims on U.S. public lands is growing. A 27% increase since 2019 has brought the total to nearly a half-million.

A new study showed many are in close proximity to, and could threaten, national parks. In Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, more than 15,000 mining claims are within 30 miles of a national park or monument, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Beau Kiklis, associate director of landscape conservation and energy policy for the association, said claims are easy to get, based on a system dating back to 1872. He added a bill now in the U.S. Senate Committee of Energy and Natural Resources could make it even simpler.

"We're seeing agencies and institutions being dismantled and protections for landscapes being reviewed and compromised," Kiklis pointed out. "When we look at this data, our parks and our monuments, they are threatened from the possibility of future mining."

Kiklis noted mining claims are not held to the same standards of review and public process as other public land uses, and residents receive no royalties from the claims. According to the report, holders of mining claims in 2023 paid less than $10 per acre.

Kiklis emphasized it takes, on average, just three years to permit a mine.

"That's pretty fast when you think about the potential threats that are associated with mining, like impacts to groundwater and water supply for communities, wildlife migration and habitat, air impacts," Kiklis outlined. "You think about other public land uses, like recreation and conservation and so forth."

Across the northern Rockies, there are 141 mining claims within the boundaries of national parks and monuments, including Yellowstone National Park and Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area.

Months after the nation's highest court declined to hear a Utah case about ownership of public lands, a Montana House committee will debate whether to support it.

The Committee on Energy, Technology and Federal Relations is scheduled to hear a resolution today about "supporting Utah" in its 2024 lawsuit against the United States.

Utah claimed it's been deprived of "sovereign powers" because of the federal government's "indefinite retention of unappropriated public lands" there.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in January, but the suit could be refiled.

Kearstyn Cook - program director with of Montana Conservation Voters - said that could set what she calls a "dangerous precedent."

"The State of Montana showing support for such a motion," said Cook, "is just a blatant slap in the face to public land owners and lovers."

The federal government owns nearly 70% of the land within Utah's borders, and 30% in Montana's.

Still, 68% of Montana voters have said they oppose giving states control over national public lands, according to the latest poll.

Montana Conservation Voters collected over 1,000 signatures asking state lawmakers to denounce Utah's efforts. Cook said people want to make their voices heard.

"People who use our public lands," said Cook, "for recreation, hunting, fishing, hiking, for agriculture, for ranching - this in some way, shape or form would impact a majority of Montanans."

The same committee on Tuesday will hear Senate Joint Resolution 14, which would release federal Wilderness Study Areas from their protected status - across more than 1 million acres of Montana public lands - opening them to "multiple uses" including agriculture, timber and mining.