Interior E-mails Reveal Interior Shrinking of Bears Ears was for Oil, Uranium and Sports Hunters

Sports hunters used their connection to fellow hunter Donald Trump, Jr., to lobby for the opening for more of
Bears Ears to hunters. Photo from Interior e-mails.

Interior E-mails Reveal Interior Shrinking of Bears Ears was for Oil, Uranium and Sports Hunters

Interior has land auction scheduled for Bears Ears area land on March 20, 2018, unless it is halted

Article by Brenda Norrell
Censored News

The New York Times reports that oil was the reason for the shrinking of Bears Ears. The article also reveals Interior meetings with a uranium company, Energy Fuels Resources, concerning uranium at Bears Ears.
The 20,000 Interior e-mails also reveal the interest in available coal at Grand Staircase Escalante and natural gas at the Canyon of the Ancients.
Further, Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke planned a private dinner with the head of a sportsmen group, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, a connection made possible by Donald Trump, Jr., who went hunting with the head of the sportsmen's group in Utah. 
Sportsmen were lobbying the Interior for hunts of the free roaming bison, elk, big horn sheep, cougar, black bear, and more, in the Bears Ears area.
The e-mails also reveal the sarcastic attitude of the head of the Bureau of Reclamation toward Native Americans, as shown below, one of 20,000 e-mails which the New York Times gained access to.
The statements from Native American Nations opposing the shrinkage of Bears Ears and destruction are included in these e-mails.
One e-mail points out how little Zinke knows about Indian Tribes, after Zinke suggested Tribes become corporations.
The e-mails also show motorcyclists contacting the Interior, eager to gain access to back trails.
(Below) Interior Sec. Zinke posted this photo during his visit to Bears Ears, as the Interior prepared to open more areas for exploiters. Hunters contacted Zinke after hunting with Donald Trump Jr, according to e-mails. The Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife continued to support Zinke in November, when Zinke promoted big game hunts in this news release.
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New York Times -- Oil was central in decision to shrink Bears Ears, internal e-mails show

By Eric Lipton and Lisa Friedman
March 2, 2018
WASHINGTON — Even before President Trump officially opened his high-profile review last spring of federal lands protected as national monuments, the Department of Interior was focused on the potential for oil and gas exploration at a protected Utah site, internal agency documents show.The debate started as early as March 2017, when an aide to Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, asked a senior Interior Department official to consider shrinking Bears Ears National Monument in the southeastern corner of the state. Under a longstanding program in Utah, oil and natural gas deposits within the boundaries of the monument could have been used to raise revenue for public schools had the land not been under federal protection. Read article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/climate/bears-ears-national-monument.html

(Below) The Bureau of Reclamation's sarcastic comments about Indian Tribes, from E-mails in New York Times article:
Alan Mikkelsen is the Bureau of Reclamation's Deputy Commissioner.

ACCESS Interior E-mails and Documents here:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4391967-National-Monuments-a-Look-at-the-Debate-From.html#document/

Shrinking Bears Ears National Monument: Inside the Interior Department Decision

The New York Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of documents related to the decision by the Trump administration's Department of Interior to shrink two National Monuments, a special category of federal lands intended to protect them from development. The Times received 25,000 pages of documents, but only after it filed a lawsuit in federal court. Here are a few of the key ones.

Objections from Utah Delegation Even Before Bears Ears Created 

Utah State Board of Education Objected Too, Citing Mineral Rights 

Indian Tribe Supported Creating Bears Ears 

An Early Look by Trump Era Interior: Metals and Fossil Fuels at Bears Ears 

Interior Notices Patagonia/Google videos re Bears Ears 

Intervention by Sen Orrin Hatch's Office 

Hatch's Office: This New Boundry Would Exclude "All Known Minerals Conflicts" 

One of Many Efforts by Outdoor Industry to Intervene 

Minerals Review at Bears Ears, Examined Again 

Indian Tribes Call for Bears Ears to be Left as Is 

Hunting Group Intervenes Too, With Photos of Kills  

Interior Department Official Criticizes Indian Tribes 

Formal Review of National Monuments Begins 

Zinke Travels to Utah, Discusses Concerns with State Officials 

Zinke Schedule to Visit Bears Ears 

More Questions about Mines and Impact of National Monuments 

Staff Report on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 

Coal Potential at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 

Staff Report on Bears Ears  

Current and Former National Park Service Employees Voice Their Opinion p.138

White House Decides to Keep Interior Memo Justifying Move to Shrink Monuments Private 

"To be remembered" National Wildlife Federation 

Natural Gas Production at Canyons of the Ancients 

FYI to Interior Bosses: Outside Magazine on National Monuments Debate 

Energy Fuels Resources Meeting Details  

Indian Tribes Repeat Support for Maintaining Monument 

Motorcyclists Welcome Access to More Federal Lands  

Below: Zinke's private dinner with sports hunter organization's head, after hunting with Donald Trump, Jr. in Utah.

Read more:

Donald Trump Jr. and his Utah hunter buddy, all part of the shrinking of Bears Ears for the exploiters. http://kutv.com/news/local/utah-sportsman-hunts-with-trumps-sons-calls-them-authentic-blue-collar-kids