The Bears Ears And The Size of Corn Cobs

Corn was smaller a thousand years ago.  This corn cob, minus the corn, has been sitting on the ground for a thousand years or so near a place called Perfect Kiva in the just created Bears Ears National Monument.

President Obama just designated an area in Southern Utah called the Bears Ears National Monument and this ought to be a big deal to climbers because it changes our interaction with some of the most important places we climb. I think most of the changes are for the better. The Bear Ears National Monument will raise many questions that probably should be asked in other places as well. You see the Bear Ears National Monument is home to world class climbing but it was designated because it’s sacred to several tribes and because it contains tens of thousands of archaeological sites. To be clear, climbers aren’t the only ones in love with the land that is now called the Bears Ears and this is bigger than you or me by far.

Sydney climbing the South Six Shooter, April 2014

This designation matters everywhere because climbers' goals and Native American values haven’t always squared in many places. People have climbed cliff dwellings and this has caused irreparable harm.  I recall when a climber trespassed and climbed Spider Rock, a pillar in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona which is considered the home of the Navajo spirit Spider Woman (Na'ashjéii Asdzáá). It’s illegal to climb this sacred pillar. Very few places are banned from climbing for tribal religious reasons and generally tribes are open to climbers. Yet, the climbing community is largely young, full of energy, and sometimes ignorant of the larger picture and differing points of view.  Y’all should know that climbers and musicians are my favorite people. I am not singling anybody out.

Spider Rock (Center), Canyon Chelly, Arizona in 2015

I have been going to the area that is now called the Bears Ears National Monument since I was a toddler. I make regular pilgrimages to Indian Creek. I am originally from Utah and southern Utah was big deal to my family. I thank my folks for making sure we learned the importance of the natural world. At the time we didn’t call it the Bears Ears.  The Bears Ears are actually two buttes that look a little like a bear's ears (if you squint) that are now the namesake for a much larger area that is a 1.4 million acre national monument that includes Indian Creek, Lockhart Basin, Arch/Texas Canyon, Comb Ridge, Valley of the Gods, and countless other climbing locales, some yet to be discovered.  1.4 million acres is a hell of a lot of space.  

Indian Creek,  Utah. April 2014. South and North Six Shooters in the distance.

I think the designation of a new monument is profound for climbers. Yes, I know the lizards in the desert don't know they are monumental now. The landscape itself doesn't have knowledge of legal designations but the designation affects the landscape because laws either protect sites from looting or facilitate it by the spread of roads. Legal designations also determine the extent of oil, gas,and mining development.

Laws governing lands matter.  I think that first that we must band together to continue to protect the Bears Ears. To do this most effectively we have to listen to concerns of people with differing points of view even if they are saying that a particular crag is sacred and ought to be off limits.  The place needs protection because powerful politicians in Utah want to sell it off to oil and gas developers, even though most Utahns approve of the designation.  The Bears Ears need protection because there are huge problems with looting of archaeological sites, including graves.   I think designation means that we as climbers need to step forward and make sacrifices if necessary to protect archaeological sites. We can stay the hell off illegal spires, we can call the police on any looters, and we can provide input on how to stop looting.

Granary in Bullet Canyon, Utah, family reunion 2009

And our input could be quite useful because we are out there with eyes and ears. Looting happens most often where people have easy access by four wheel drives or ATVs and protection of archaeological sites sometimes means closing gates or gating roads altogether and that could mean we have to walk farther to get to our favorite crag. It could mean that some crags will be closed to climbing altogether. The Monument designation could mean new areas open up open because maps will become more robust with greater interest in the area.  Monument designation also means that vast vistas won’t become littered with oil and gas rigs.

These sorts of questions could actually matter even to those that never go to the Bears Ears. No matter where you climb you are climbing in a cultural and geological space that is vastly larger and more complex than your desire to send a new route. Part of the beauty of climbing rock is that it is rich experience that gets richer as you engage different perspectives.  Petroglyphs should be protected everywhere, not just in National Monuments, and they are made of the stuff we climb. So get out there and climb. The rock itself and the history that surrounds it is more beautiful and complex than any one human could ever know.

Sydney, April 2014