Tourists and looters descend on Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument as Biden mulls protections Published 3 hours ago
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Print article BLUFF, Utah - In the sandstone canyon where Vaughn Hadenfeldt once saw the bloody tracks of a mountain lion hauling off a mule deer, there are 1,000-year-old cliff dwellings decorated by rock paintings of bighorn sheep where one can still see the ancient footprint of an infant pressed into the wall. A renowned wilderness guide with decades of experience exploring the Bears Ears area, Hadenfeldt has long argued that this austere landscape teeming with archaeological and cultural treasure in southeastern Utah should be viewed as an outdoor museum. And each time he visits, more of that treasure has been looted.
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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox takes a selfie with Rep. Blake Moore, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and Sen. Mitt Romney. The group toured ancient dwellings along the Butler Wash trail at Bears Ears National Monument near Blanding on Thursday.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland met with tribal leaders as well as Utah state leaders Wednesday in San Juan County to talk about Bears Ears National Monument. They toured the monument together Thursday morning.
Haaland is visiting southern Utah this week as part of an Interior Department review of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Former-president Donald Trump shrunk both monuments in 2017 at the behest of Utah politicians.
US Interior secretary begins visit in Utah reviewing national monuments msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Deseret News
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The Bears Ears of the Bears Ears National Monument are pictured from the air on Monday, May 8, 2017. Navajo Nation leaders called for full restoration and expansion of the Bears Ears National Monument to 1.9 million acres in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Wednesday in Bluff, Utah.
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Navajo Nation leaders called for full restoration and expansion of the Bears Ears National Monument to 1.9 million acres in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland on Wednesday in Bluff, San Juan County.
The move would reverse former President Donald Trump’s sweeping reduction of the national monument designated under former President Barack Obama.