About the Bears Ears Site Visit Program

The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition recognizes that all of the members of the Coalition Tribes have ancestral and cultural ties to the Bears Ears landscape. The Bears Ears Site Visit Program (BESV) was established to strengthen and honor those relationships to the sacred Bears Ears landscape. This program assembles community members from each of the five Tribes for a two-day experience on the Bears Ears landscape where they can learn about the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Indigenous-led collaborative management priorities while giving Tribal members an opportunity to reconnect to the landscape.

The program is open to members of Coalition Tribes 18 years of age or older. This program helps Tribal members strengthen their cultural relationships with the Bears Ears landscape for generations to come. In its pilot year, the BESV will be hosted on ancestral Tribal lands in the Bears Ears National Monument and its surrounding landscape in southern (so-called) Utah from December 1-4, 2026. These site visits aim to introduce community members to Bears Ears and serve as a stepping stone toward greater involvement in collaborative management. Over the course of the program, participants will spend two days visiting cultural sites in Bears Ears with three nights at a hotel provided at the expense of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition.

Participants will engage with introductory content focused on the January 2025 Bears Ears National Monument Resource Management Plan and the Visit with Respect curriculum that guides responsible visitation in Bears Ears. In addition to learning and experiencing the Bears Ears landscape, participants will receive a stipend, meals, lodging and reimbursements for travel expenses.