BLM, Forest Service finalize Bears Ears plan

By Scott Streater | 01/14/2025 04:16 PM EST

The new management plan emphasizes conservation and tribal knowledge.

An elevation sign at Bears Ears National Monument

An elevation sign at Bears Ears National Monument is seen. George Frey/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration announced Tuesday it has finalized a groundbreaking new management plan for Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument that was developed in collaboration with Native American tribes.

The new management plan, several years in the making, emphasizes conservation and tribal knowledge in an effort to protect the natural and cultural resources at the 1.35-million-acre monument designated by former President Barack Obama in 2016.

The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service jointly manage the national monument through a historic co-stewardship agreement signed in 2022 with a coalition of five Native American tribes that consider the landscape sacred.

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Steve Feldgus, the Interior Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, signed a record of decision, dated Monday, and Manti-La Sal National Forest Supervisor Barbara Van Alstine signed a separate ROD on Tuesday finalizing the new plan, both landing just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

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