1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

Return Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante to their former glory You are not leaders! You are thieves and scoundrels! Leaders don't sell out our Heritage & Environment to special interests without a second thought. In July, all of you proudly endorsed the gutting of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments removing federal protection for some 3 million acres of public lands and shrinking the boundaries to just 10% of their previous sizes. The original monument boundaries protected priceless tribal cultural sites and pristine red rock landscapes and desert ecosystems, all of which provided sustainable tourism revenue for rural economies. But these monument protections also safeguard watersheds and the water quality of our water supply. Together, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are home to thousands of miles of streams and rivers, including Indian Creek, Calf Creek, Wahweap Creek, and other Colorado River tributaries like the Paria, Escalante, and San Juan Rivers. Although some of these desert streams may be ephemeral, keeping them clean is important for protecting our water supply. By slashing land protection for the monuments our leaders have opened these watersheds up to a myriad of new development including uranium mining, oil and gas drilling, and other destructive projects that could devastate the landscape and leave behind a toxic legacy that could last for decades. Rolling back federal protection could threaten people living across a broad geography. National monument designations improve water quality and quantity for communities downstream. Tribes across the southwest, many of whom fought tooth and nail for the designation of these monuments, are already living through the consequences of our toxic industrial past Thousands of people living on reservations are forced to rely on contaminated water sources or simply do without running water. Forfeiting the ancestral homelands of these tribes to enrich the wealthy from extractive industries, only deepens this shameful inequity. Monument protection also safeguards America's rich fish and wildlife legacy left to us by previous generations, including bighorn sheep, black bear, mule deer, mountain lion, and the 200 avian species of Grand Staircase-Escalante like the American kestrel, the Bald Eagle, and the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher. Prioritizing insatiable greed over wildlife, irreplaceable landscapes, and public welfare is the exact same kind of "leadership" that has been drying up the Colorado River and the Great Salt Lake for decades. It's time we remind our state leaders they work for us, not money-hungry moguls. You are the sycophants of billionaires, big conglomerates, and the 34TimeFelon in the white house.