This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
At first, opponents of the proposed Bears Ears National Monument said the Public Lands Initiative was the way to go. They lauded it as a locally driven effort toward "compromise." It's not. It never was. It never will be. The PLI is still here (unfortunately), but the rhetoric has moved on.
Next, they tried convincing the public that the 1.9 million acres of public land that harbors an unrivaled wealth of archaeological significance didn't actually need protecting from looters and vandals, that that was something somebody had just made up. Archaeologists showed them pictures and told them stories to the contrary. So, with a straight face, they blamed it on badgers. Nobody bought it.
So, they continued accusing the tribes of being paid puppets of "radical environmental extremism," insinuating that the tribes were incapable of having an opinion, much less doing something about it. The public backlash was swift and scathing. They changed their tune. Now, the tribes are no longer being accused of accepting bribes, just (as described in a recent article by Amy Joi O'Donoghue in the Deseret News) colluding with environmental groups, implying that, if they are going to pursue this thing at all, they should be going at it alone.
It is one thing to hold a legitimate political or philosophical viewpoint. It is another thing entirely to attempt to validate it with nonsense.
Joshua Boling
Logan