Bears Ears and Windows

One thing I read about and found interesting was the fact that there was a massive increase in tourism at Bears Ears in the last couple years.

I remember seeing a little comic on this site when it was first announced depicting a tour bus dropping off a load of people who were walking a nice, paved path up to some ruins with a big sign.

So what's worse? Moab, the armpit of Southern Utah, seems to be getting worse in worse in regards to touron traffic.


Also, still trying to find good information on the implications of this decision without all the meaningless political slant.

This is pretty good:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com...grand-staircase-escalante-national-monuments/

 

As far as vehicular access, nothing has changed. That's pre-monument to monument to shrunken Monument. As we found out earlier in the thread the only real change in the monument designation was a protection from future development of leases by commercial interests. The "shrinking" just reverts back to previous BLM, USFS and a few tracts of "State Trust" land. I think "future" is the key word here. The I70 corridor on the Co western slope was pretty devoid of "development" until new fracking/shale oil extraction technology became economically feasible.

Well said. This is going to be in the courts for a while plus the fact that area resource extraction is not all that cost effective yet means the first 2 words from the acronym SNAFU apply.


To say the resource extraction industry opens up areas of back country for the 4wd enthusiast is far from an all encompassing statement. That being said, most of what we call trails in SW Utah are the now abandoned remnants of routes carved out by exploration/development by oil/gas/mineral folks. The halftrack on the HITR trail detour is from gas/oil surveying in the late fifties. Nearly all routes in all of Canyonlands are from the mineral folks.
I run into gates on BLM leases all the time. Usually this is to protect expensive, potentially dangerous sites, like nat gas compressor stations and the like. One does not need to look very far in Nine Mile Canyon Ut to see this.
The last area to be mapped/surveyed in the lower 48 was NW Co and the adjacent part of Utah. Take a look at that area in Google Earth now, around Rangely Co. Every white spot is a well pad interconnected by a maze of dirt roads and pipelines....................and gates. The now "put on hold" oil shale (not shale oil) strip mining operation in the Utah section of the Bookcliffs was but a few miles from the single most well preserved cultural site ever found. Gates gates and more gates.

I still maintain my original point, explore while the exploring is good. Local folks are reporting a large increase of visitor traffic simply due to the publicity.
Spring is perfect.

@License2Ill
Remember your thread dealing with PS hose sealing washers? I posted a shot of the 99 style washers against a 7.5 min USGS quad.
The "cliff dwelling" notes went unmentioned.

If one views/downloads the the quads of this area at the USGS site, check the older survey dates. For example, map names "Bluff NW" and "Bluff SW" alone contain around 20+ "cliff dwelling" or "ruins" notes. The later surveys leave them out, even the Nat Geo "Trails Illustrated" map of the area (map #706, Grand Gultch Plateau) shows none. Not sure if this is intentional or what.

 

When this came in the mail in July 67, I knew where I was headed.
Been going down hill since then.

 

Unfortunately the only time I had my camera on me.



As someone who's Native American this issue transcends politics. This is issue is about my heritage.

 

Hey everyone, I know not everyone on here is a rock climber but Access Fund (a non-profit to protect rock climbing access) did an excellent job answering many of the questions you may have regarding Bears Ears. There are several questions that also specifically pertain to 4x4 access which many of us are interested in. I have provided a link below.

https://www.accessfund.org/open-gate-blog/bears-ears-frequently-asked-questions

 

Thanks for posting that link. It contains a lot of new (new to me anyway) information. for instance, I did not realize that the original monument extended to include the Lockhart Basin area and to the Valley of the Gods.

 

Agreed. It is a very special place.

I also put my money where my mouth is. I chose to contribute just now to AccessFund to help with their efforts to fight this congressional bill that would gut the antiquities act. Trying to see the bigger picture here.

 

That's awesome. I've already done the same. Happy to help keep everyone informed. I've been following it very closely.

 

I'll just leave this here...


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/climate/bears-ears-national-monument.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/climate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront


https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/sordid-backstory-behind-bears-ears-and-grand-staircase-decisions

 

So telling. Thank you for posting these links.

 

Not surprising. At all.

 

hm. Great.

 

Shocking.

Who woulda thought?

 

Yeaaaah. I'm not at all surprised.
I guess it's all-is-well it came out sooner, rather than later. It'll be wrapped up in the courts for a while.

 

Hmm, not good.

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/6221...ected-as-a-national-monument?utm_term=nprnews

 

I obviously don’t know the specifics of the requirements of this company’s lease. But I’m positive that I can trust this guy’s objective and unbiased judgement that the impact to tourism and the environment will only be “modest”.

 

An Update on Legal Fight to Protect Bears Ears ...from AccessFund

https://www.accessfund.org/news-and...content=update_on_bears_ears_lawsuit_contacts

 

Y'all actually support Bears Ears? You support Federal land grabs with no reasonable management plan? Come on! I'm no fan of the current administration, but hopefully this is now a dead issue. I'd absolutely HATE to lose access to that area, as the Comb Ridge region south of Blanding is one of my favorite places, period. It's so remote that it doesn't see enough traffic to truly worry; most people who go to the trouble of visiting tend to do so with respect and reverence. The gubmint is barely able to manage the lands it already administers, so why would we think Bears Ears would be any different? Closure IS NOT management.

In terms of trails, Hole in the Rock would likely be safe from closure (we plan to run it for a fifth time in '20). But lesser trails that I love, like Arch Canyon, Hotel Rock, and Comb Ridge, would likely be closed. I'm not going to stand for that. As far as resource extraction, I'll tell you this: operators have explored this area, all the way up to Moab, for O&G for decades. How much production is there, even when oil was $100+/bbl? You'll never see full-on development in this area, so don't worry.