DENVER ~ ### Colorado and Tribal Leaders Condemn Bears Ears Monument Reduction

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera and leaders of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes condemned President Donald Trump's decision to shrink Bears Ears National Monument, saying the move disregarded Tribal Nations' ties to the land and ended a formal partnership in its management.

The proclamation reduced the monument from 1.36 million acres to about 121,000 acres—a 91% cut. According to the statement, the roughly 1.24 million acres removed from the monument's protections are now open to potential land sales and transfers, mineral leasing and mining claims.

Polis said the decision was made without meaningful consultation with the Tribes whose ancestral homelands the monument protects. He called for federal officials to meet directly with Tribal leaders before making decisions affecting their lands.

Primavera said damage to sacred sites and archaeological resources could be irreversible. She also criticized the proclamation for disbanding the Bears Ears Commission, which brought five federally recognized Tribes together to help guide the monument's management.

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Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Councilwoman Tawnie Knight said the Tribe would continue working to preserve its ancestral lands. Southern Ute Tribal Chairman Christine Sage said the region's archaeological sites, oral histories, traditional knowledge and cultural practices reflect the Ute people's enduring connection to Bears Ears.

President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears a national monument in 2016. The designation established the Bears Ears Commission, which worked with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service on a management plan combining Indigenous knowledge with federal land-management practices.

The leaders' statement said Trump's proclamation ended the agencies' obligation to work with the commission, replacing the partnership with general consultation requirements under other laws.

The region contains more than 13,000 years of human history and remains important for Tribal traditions and ceremonies, the statement said. It also described Bears Ears as ecologically significant, citing water-filtering highlands, forests and canyons that provide habitat for Mexican spotted owls, bighorn sheep, elk and rare desert plants.

The leaders warned that expanded mining could damage fragile habitats and contaminate land and water.

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