Interior secretary steps into Utah public lands tug-of-war

SALT LAKE CITY — For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley.

A string of U.S. officials has heard from those who advocate for broadening national monuments to protect the area's many archaeological and cultural sites, considered sacred to surrounding tribes, and those who fiercely oppose what they see as federal overreach.

On Thursday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will be the latest cabinet official to visit Bears Ears National Monument — and the first Indigenous one.

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/interior-secretary-steps-into-utah-public-lands-tug-of-war