The Tribal Land Management Plan

The five Tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC) – Hopi, Navajo (Diné), Ute Indian, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni — have deep traditional cultural beliefs that tie them to the land. The physical world is much more than just a natural realm to sustain the material needs of life for the Tribes and for others, today.  It is a place of time-tested relationships between people and place, where the Traditional Indigenous Knowledge (TIK) of Bears Ears was born, and it is an integrated cultural landscape that is important to the lifeways, language and culture of the Coalition Tribes.

The BEITC Land Management Plan was created to provide a synthesis of Tribal perspectives for managing the landscape of the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM). The Land Management Plan emphasizes a holistic approach to all resources that gives primacy to indigenous knowledge and perspectives on the stewardship of the Bears Ears landscape. Although prepared for BENM, this plan can also be applied beyond the boundaries of the Monument, as it is intended to provide the foundation for proactive collaborative management of ancestral lands that extend well beyond current reservation boundaries.

The Coalition and Commission use the Tribal Land Management Plan to guide their planning efforts and decisions with respect to the Monument.  This ensures that the significance of the Bears Ears transcends individual Tribal, state, local, or federal concerns and represents the collective views and values of the Coalition Tribes with respect to the objects identified in Proclamations 9558 and 10285.

Collaborative Management Today

Collaboration between Tribal Nations and Federal land managers is proposed as the foundation of true co-management of these important lands, and the Coalition Tribes recognize that they are not solely charged with management of the Bears Ears National Monument.  They acknowledge and recognize their obligations to collaborate meaningfully with the land management agencies authorized to manage the Bears Ears National Monument in Proclamations 9558 and 10285. Collaboration between Tribal Nations and Federal agencies is seen as the foundation for both planning and implementation of day-to-day management decisions with the common goal of long-term, sustainable management of the Bears Ears landscape.

Download the full Tribal Land Management Plan