"Should Utah's 'Bears Ears' Become A National Monument?"

"US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell heard public voices Saturday about the proposal to designate the vibrant landscape as a National Monument."

"US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited Utah's 'Bears Ears' last week in an attempt to resolve an increasingly contentious debate over whether to designate the San Juan County cultural landscape as a US National Monument.

While divisive, the debate over the area designation is also nuanced, with some wanting to see sensitive cultural sites protected from vandalism and others fearing that more rigorous regulations will restrict cultural and economic activity.

“There is nobody that I talk to that doesn’t want to see these areas protected,” said Ms. Jewell at a three-and-a-half hour public meeting on Saturday before a packed room, according to Deseret News, which reports on news in Salt Lake City and Utah."

Roya Sabri reports for the Christian Science Monitor July 17, 2016.