Photo: Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP
For generations, Bruce Adams and his family have lived off the land by grazing cattle in southeastern Utah. When President Obama designated 1.35 million acres as Bears Ears National Monument in 2016, Adams and other locals worried the change would limit their ability to graze and hunt like they had in the past. The following year, after a review of recently designated monuments, President Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears to just over 200,000 acres. Adams, who serves on the three-person San Juan County commission, praised the president’s decision, noting in one interview for the BBC that only 8 percent of San Juan County is made up of private lands, “So in order for us to survive as citizens here we have to have access and use of the public property.” …
Read the full op-ed as it was published by Deseret News.
