A highly public campaign addressing protection for Bears Ears began in 2011 with an effort by the Native American-led nonprofit Utah Diné Bikéyah, he said. In 2015, an intertribal coalition began to develop a more formal proposal for a Bears Ears national monument that received ample media coverage, he said. Then in both 2015 and 2016 Obama Administration officials made visits to the area, holding a public meeting last year that local news agencies reported was attended by more than 1,400 people

That makes a six-year period when people could have registered their support or opposition for the monument with their elected officials, he said.

"Everybody knew about Bears Ears," Hedden said.

He acknowledged, however, that other monument designations weren't preceded by the same open public process, most notably Grand Staircase-Escalante established in 1996 and another monument under Zinke's review.

Zinke visited Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah this week and said the question isn't whether the land needs to be preserved, but whether a monument status is the best way to do it.

Within 45 days of April 26, Trump's executive order requires Zinke to produce an interim report with its review of Bears Ears and recommendations for Presidential actions, legislative proposals or other actions related to the monument. It requires a final report of Zinke's review of the other monuments after 120 days.

Emery Cowan can be reached at (928) 556-2250 or ecowan@azdailysun.com

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