I spoke with Phil Lyman, San Juan County Commissioner, in Monticello where last week he proclaimed on the court house steps that the Bears Ears designation will be reversed.
“Basically a land grab through disingenuous narrative pushed by the environmentalists. And so now that it has been declared, you got all those people that I think are wondering if they really wanted this monument as adamantly as they were saying in the first place. And they’re also recognizing, which is what we said from the beginning, is that this is not in the best interests of the Native Americans who live in San Juan County. So reversal would be fantastic. In the meantime we have a monument declared. And we want to find out what concessions they’re willing to make so that we can keep the schools operational and have jobs in this county.”
Lyman and pretty much every Republican leader in Utah have opposed Bears Ears from the beginning, favoring the Public Lands Initiative still being proposed by the state’s congressional delegation.
“Between liberals and conservatives on the left and the right there are a group of people in the middle who are conservative enough to recognize that there’s a way to do things, a right way and a wrong way, and that the constitution still has some bearing. And those same people recognize that there’s room for some innovation and some creativity and some thoughtful approach to this. But the frustrating part to me is that you can’t get any credit for being a thinking person, largely due to the media. You know, at the end of the day we’re right back where we started, which is trying to figure out what is the best for our citizens. It’s really a huge challenge but we’re going to take that reality, move to the next stage, which is, how do we still have some jobs in San Juan County besides flipping hamburgers or changing motel beds for people from the Wasatch front.”
Much of the local opposition came from residents who declared they don’t want to become “another Moab.” Lyman says that’s not going to happen no matter what.
“There will only ever be one Moab, it’s a special place, a unique place. There will only ever be one Blanding, very different from Moab. I don’t think we have any fears. We have a thriving college down there, retail community. It’s always been a center for culture and education. And I wouldn’t say the same thing about Moab. It’s a place for recreation and partying and off-roading and all those things. The only people that have a problem with what Blanding and Monticello and Bluff and our communities in San Juan County are, are the people from Colorado or the Wasatch Front. They come down here and say, hey we think it would be smart to be someone other than what you are.”
Much of tribal concerns that led to proposing Bears Ears stemmed from concerns over continual looting of artifacts in the region. Lyman and other local Republicans steadfastly maintain that looting is not a problem.
“And unfortunately, the only thing they have to go off is what they read in the papers and the narrative. So when they read about looting and racism and all of these things, they’re offended by that. What they need to understand is that what they’re reading is not the reality of what’s happening in San Juan County, and that the people who are pushing that narrative are motivated by something completely other than protecting San Juan County from looters and those types of things.”
Despite the oil, gas and uranium busts, Lyman remains convinced that those are the sectors the county must strive to rely on, and he has mixed feelings about tourism.
“There are certainly people who are very tuned into the tourism side of this and I hope they can promote the heck out of this and capitalize on the opportunity that’s there. But really for the most part, I’ve been here for four generations myself, and I’m not here for recreation, I’m not here for money. I’m here because this is my home, this is what I care about, these are the people that I love.”
While San Juan County supports a reversal and plans to join in lawsuits against Bears Ears, Lyman does have some conciliatory thoughts.
“I’m not one of these saying transfer the lands to the states. But I am one who can read the constitution and recognize that it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to own the West the way that they do. In the meantime they do own it and I say, it’s the federal government’s land, let them call it whatever they want. They want to call it a monument, that’s their prerogative.”
Part 2 of the story can be found here.
