Bears Ears

Few places in the American West have been as contested as Bears Ears. President Obama set the land aside as a national monument in 2016, and a year later President Trump shrank it to about 85 percent of its original size. Since then, the area has remained a battleground where ranchers, miners, environmental advocates, supporters of states' rights, and Native American activists each press their claims. Andrew Gulliford examines what is really at stake by tracing 11,000 years of the region's past, presenting the land as both a sanctuary and a site of resistance.

The story ranges widely, from the Pueblo communities that built villages and cliff dwellings long before written records, to the Navajo and Ute peoples, to the Mormon families who arrived by wagon train in 1880. It also covers the Atomic Age, uranium mining, and the pothunting and looting of Native graves that helped inspire the Antiquities Act, which was passed over a century ago.

The book explains how the monument came into being and why it holds such weight for five Native tribes. Because the fight over Bears Ears reflects broader questions about public lands in the American West, the author treats it as a bellwether, a case whose outcome will remain relevant for years to come.