A major Native American site is being looted. Will Obama risk armed conflict to save it?

Last edited Mon Jun 6, 2016, 11:01 AM - Edit history (1)

The Washington Post
Juliet Eilperin

RIM OF CEDAR MESA, Utah — For centuries, humans have used the red sandstone canyons here as a way to mark their existence.

First came archaic hunter-gatherers who worked in Glen Canyon Linear, a crude geometrical style dating back more than 3,500 years. Then about 2,000 years later, early ancestral Pueblo farmers of the Basketmaker period used more subtle lines to produce a man in headdress. A little more than 700 years ago came their descendants, who used the same kind of hard river stone to make drawings of bighorn sheep and a flute player in the ancient rock.

Now, President Obama is weighing whether and how he can leave his own permanent imprint on history by designating about 2 million acres of land, known as the Bears Ears, as a national monument.

And despite the uniformly acknowledged historical significance of the area, some people regard the conservation efforts by the White House as classic federal overreach. In the current-era conflict between Washington and rural Westerners, the idea of a Bears Ears national monument has produced warnings of a possible armed insurrection.

more at link:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-major-native-american-site-is-being-looted-will-obama-risk-armed-conflict-to-save-it/ar-BBtTzkn?ocid=spartanntp


The area known as the Bears Ears is east of Blanding, Utah. Native American tribes are pushing the Obama administration to declare national monument status for the Bears Ears region of Utah which has caused controversy among local residences and Utah political leaders.