Statute
Bears Ears National Monument Proclamation (Obama)
Proclamation 9558 in December 2016 created Bears Ears National Monument on about 1.35 million acres and a commission of five tribes.
- Citation
- Proclamation 9558 (Dec. 28, 2016)
- Year
- 2016
- Effect on land rights
- advanced
What happened
On December 28, 2016, President Barack Obama used the Antiquities Act to create Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. The proclamation says the land "is profoundly sacred to many Native American tribes, including the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah Ouray, Hopi Nation, and Zuni Tribe," and that "traditional ecological knowledge" held by Native peoples is "itself, a resource to be protected."
The proclamation reserved "all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government" within its boundaries, which "encompass approximately 1.35 million acres." It withdrew those federal lands from entry, sale and disposition under the public land laws, from location under the mining laws, and from mineral and geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights.
It also created a new kind of tribal role. A Bears Ears Commission was established "to provide guidance and recommendations" on management plans, made up of "one elected officer each from the Hopi Nation, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah Ouray, and Zuni Tribe."
The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition's own site says the five tribes formed the Coalition in July 2015 and sent President Obama a Tribally-led proposal dated October 15, 2015. It describes the Commission as a model of collaborative management grounded in Tribal sovereignty. The monument was reduced in 2017, restored in 2021, and reduced again in 2026, as the later entries on this site describe.
Good to know. The proclamation gives 1.35 million acres; later documents use 1.36 million. The account of the tribal proposal is the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition's own.
Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
These reserved Federal lands and interests in lands encompass approximately 1.35 million acres.
Proclamation 9558, Establishment of the Bears Ears National Monument (Dec. 28, 2016), White House archivea Bears Ears Commission (Commission) is hereby established to provide guidance and recommendations
Proclamation 9558, Establishment of the Bears Ears National Monument (Dec. 28, 2016), White House archivethe land is profoundly sacred to many Native American tribes
Proclamation 9558, Establishment of the Bears Ears National Monument (Dec. 28, 2016), White House archiveOne of the Coalition’s first actions was submitting a comprehensive Tribally-led proposal to President Obama
The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Turns Eleven (bearsearscoalition.org)In December 2016, President Obama designated Bears Ears National Monument and established the Bears Ears Commission
The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Turns Eleven (bearsearscoalition.org)
Research notes. The Coalition's account of the tribal proposal and the Commission is the Coalition's own, attributed to it. The proclamation's figure is 1.35 million acres; later documents also use 1.36 million. Federal Register citation for Proclamation 9558 was not opened; the White House archive text was used.
Who is doing the work
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Doctrine applied 3
Policy era 1
Used to carry out 1
Sources
- Kind
- Statute
- Confidence
- High