Outdoor Alliance Joins President Biden in Protecting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante

Bears Ears National Monument, UT, Ancestral lands of Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Hopi and Zuni. Photo credit: Jasper Gibson

Today, Outdoor Alliance joins President Biden at the White House as he signs into law protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah.

Adam Cramer, Outdoor Alliance’s CEO, said, “Outdoor Alliance is thrilled to join President Biden as he signs the proclamation to protect Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Along with being profoundly important to Indigenous communities since time immemorial, these landscapes are known for their world-class climbing, as well as paddling, hiking, mountain biking, and camping. The President’s actions today honor the voices of Indigenous communities as well as Americans across the country who want to see Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante permanently protected. And they contribute toward broader conservation goals, including those set out in the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful plan.”

In 2017, the Trump administration illegally rolled back protections on Bears Ears National Monument and on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Many groups, including the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Access Fund, and Outdoor Alliance, have been working to restore protections for the region.

Today’s proclamation uses the Antiquities Act, which enables the President to protect public lands as National Monuments. Presidents of both parties have used the Antiquities Act to protect millions of acres of public land over the last 100 years, including places like the Grand Canyon and Zion, which have since become National Parks.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are beloved landscapes to the outdoor community. Outdoor Alliance and its members have paddled the San Juan, climbed Valley of the Gods, hiked the Abajo Mountains, and slept under the desert stars. We are thrilled to see the President taking action to restore these monuments, respecting the wishes of the Tribes and overwhelmingly, of the American public, who spoke out in the millions to defend the protection of this region.

Outdoor Alliance is grateful to stand alongside our partners and be a part of seeing these landscapes permanently protected today. The outdoor community played a key role in today’s victory, writing and delivering thousands of letters to both the Obama administration and the Trump administration in support of the monuments, and tirelessly speaking out for protections of these prized landscapes, first for designation of the landscapes, then against rollbacks, and now for restoration of protections.

You can read more about Outdoor Alliance’s work on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante here.