Bears Ears National Monument

SKLund said:
I will go into this more when I do my trip report but there is a BLM employee working there now (this is a week ago exactly). It wasn't too crowded then but but on our way out on Saturday the lot for Kane Gulch was completely full. I want to note that we did not have to see the film or get informed about impact. That is a concern.

There is no doubt that The Bears Ears have become a brand and you can fully expect to see the crowds descend on the place. I can't compare reliably to how things have been in the recent past but there were six parties camping at the Government Trail Polly's Canyon confluence. That's a lot for me. Multiple people asking me, "where's the Big Man Panel", gives me a bad feeling.
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I want to say also that this is the absolute peak of the peak season so that should explain some of it.
 
Jackson said:
I figure this may be of interest, given the discussion we've had here.

I called last Thursday to get permits for Cedar Mesa next month, and they didn't call me back until today. The employee I spoke with on the phone was a manager of some sort there, and she said they've been insanely busy all over Cedar Mesa recently. She said the number of people coming to the visitor center this spring has more than doubled compared to spring last year (800/week last year as opposed to 1800/week this year, if I recall correctly). I asked if she attributed it to the national monument designation, and she seemed pretty sure that's the primary cause.

Lucky for me, we're not going in at a popular trailhead, so our destination was wide open.
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Ugh....this is the reason I really didn't support the Bears Ears....
 
We have just spent the last twelve days camping on Cedar Mesa and in the comb ridge area (finally got to Moab to regroup a little) and can echo a bit of this. Although I don't have a previous visit to compare to, I can say that we ran into a good number of people in the canyons that were not suited for the terrain. Many people who were semi-lost and/or complaining about the lack of trail systems. We even saw a few people eating lunch IN THE RUINS! I understand the need for greater funding and protection for these sites but I just hope the monument status doesn't send the wrong message. This area needs to stay primitive in my opinion. Also had a couple of conversations with a few residents of Blanding (including a Navajo) and they are very concerned about how the monument status will affect their livelihood. It is also pretty evident that a good portion of the area has been pretty well over grazed and it would take a force to try and restore the land. It's a tough situation but seriously, what an amazing area.
 
BryanG said:
We have just spent the last twelve days camping on Cedar Mesa and in the comb ridge area (finally got to Moab to regroup a little) and can echo a bit of this. Although I don't have a previous visit to compare to, I can say that we ran into a good number of people in the canyons that were not suited for the terrain. Many people who were semi-lost and/or complaining about the lack of trail systems. We even saw a few people eating lunch IN THE RUINS! I understand the need for greater funding and protection for these sites but I just hope the monument status doesn't send the wrong message. This area needs to stay primitive in my opinion. Also had a couple of conversations with a few residents of Blanding (including a Navajo) and they are very concerned about how the monument status will affect their livelihood. It is also pretty evident that a good portion of the area has been pretty well over grazed and it would take a force to try and restore the land. It's a tough situation but seriously, what an amazing area.
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Not cool! My first choice was to always leave the area at its status quo. That was, leave it in the care and keeping of the BLM without having it overrun by mining, oiling, and logging operations while at the same time not having the publicity the area has now received with its new status. Good intentions behind the extra protections may well backfire with crowds like that, especially if some are eating in ruins and so on. There will no doubt be more people at certain sites that won't be able to resist the temptation to pocket a small shard as a souvenir, no matter their education on the matter. This has already happened over time, but may well accelerate much further beyond the ability of law enforcement authorities to be able to keep up with. These are concerns I had regarding the national monument status despite its intentions. Sounds like the growth of funding and staff that was intended from such a designation will not be able to match the pace of the onslaught of crowds. The timing of it all certainly wasn't good given the immediate transition to a new and unsupportive administration.

As for the increased competition for permits at various trailheads, that sucks too. Guess I'll have to stick to backpacking certain canyons in the off season.

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BryanG said:
We have just spent the last twelve days camping on Cedar Mesa and in the comb ridge area (finally got to Moab to regroup a little) and can echo a bit of this. Although I don't have a previous visit to compare to, I can say that we ran into a good number of people in the canyons that were not suited for the terrain. Many people who were semi-lost and/or complaining about the lack of trail systems. We even saw a few people eating lunch IN THE RUINS! I understand the need for greater funding and protection for these sites but I just hope the monument status doesn't send the wrong message. This area needs to stay primitive in my opinion. Also had a couple of conversations with a few residents of Blanding (including a Navajo) and they are very concerned about how the monument status will affect their livelihood. It is also pretty evident that a good portion of the area has been pretty well over grazed and it would take a force to try and restore the land. It's a tough situation but seriously, what an amazing area.
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Yup. A couple in Polly's Canyon asked me where Big Man Panel was. Another guy came in from Kane Gulch and said he meant to go up Bullet, yet I met him camping at Polly's. I also had a rather energetic conversation with a German tourist who was climbing up to sit on a wall At Long House. I don't think anyone really was enthusiastic about Monument status including those who worked hard for it. All wanted to keep the drillers out and this was the only way to do it.

I hope that the events described are indicative of the growing pains the area is undergoing. Budget, rules, and enforcement will be needed. In the meantime, we're working with more than a million acres here and I bet if you stay away from the popular trail heads you will not see a soul.
 
I just think the whole "security by obscurity" thing doesn't work anymore for large swaths of what was formerly very remote country. Upper Grand Gulch is a total zoo, irrespective of monument designation. Once you reach a certain critical mass of people using/enjoying/recreating/extracting resources/vandalizing, the whole Wild Wild West thing just doesn't work anymore. While I'd love to see Bears Ears and a whole bunch of other places remain pristine, the sad truth is that the population of the American West is growing, the Information Age is promulgating the spread of information (see: the discussion on this site of the Secret Society of Pictograph Panels), and I can't just bury my head in the sand and pretend like if we all just keep something on the down low, nobody will go spoil it. So that means Security by Enforcement - that is, an official designation for the land. That designation is counterproductive, of course, if there's no enforcement (and I think that's the point a lot of you guys are driving at).


On the other hand, if I'm going to a relatively unexplored area, I'm probably not going to post a trip report, or do it in very general terms.
 
Another bit of info to add about this, went to Indian Creek and down Beef Basin road through the canyon about a month ago, this is now all Bears Ears National Monument as well, "north" bears ears i suppose, and didn't see a soul off of highway 211, I had visited this area before and there were more people there then, before the national monument was created. I was surprised there were no rock climbers or anything in the indian creek area, although it might not have been climbing season? It was spring break and all the people just went to the naional park. Also went to cedar mesa area in November and there were quite a few people driving off the highways and parked along dirt roads, but only saw a few others in the canyons and on the trails.
 
Jmr said:
Another bit of info to add about this, went to Indian Creek and down Beef Basin road through the canyon about a month ago, this is now all Bears Ears National Monument as well, "north" bears ears i suppose, and didn't see a soul off of highway 211, I had visited this area before and there were more people there then, before the national monument was created. I was surprised there were no rock climbers or anything in the indian creek area, although it might not have been climbing season? It was spring break and all the people just went to the naional park. Also went to cedar mesa area in November and there were quite a few people driving off the highways and parked along dirt roads, but only saw a few others in the canyons and on the trails.
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That's crazy. I drove through Indian Creek last March and it was PACKED with climbers.
 
LarryBoy said:
I just think the whole "security by obscurity" thing doesn't work anymore for large swaths of what was formerly very remote country. Upper Grand Gulch is a total zoo, irrespective of monument designation. Once you reach a certain critical mass of people using/enjoying/recreating/extracting resources/vandalizing, the whole Wild Wild West thing just doesn't work anymore. While I'd love to see Bears Ears and a whole bunch of other places remain pristine, the sad truth is that the population of the American West is growing, the Information Age is promulgating the spread of information (see: the discussion on this site of the Secret Society of Pictograph Panels), and I can't just bury my head in the sand and pretend like if we all just keep something on the down low, nobody will go spoil it. So that means Security by Enforcement - that is, an official designation for the land. That designation is counterproductive, of course, if there's no enforcement (and I think that's the point a lot of you guys are driving at).


On the other hand, if I'm going to a relatively unexplored area, I'm probably not going to post a trip report, or do it in very general terms.
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Points well taken. I'm not going to file anything anymore regarding archeological stuff, i.e. photos, narratives, etc. that provide or lead to locations in general or specific terms. This past week, while in the BA, I found something of significance I believe. I was initially excited to report this finding in some detail here about what I think it is but there is no way I can do that. I can say in general terms that I believe I found a tool for drawing pictographs of a specific pigment. This tool is directly associated with the Basketmaker culture based on other artifacts in this location. I just hope I can get the BLM archeo's to give it some attention.
 
LarryBoy said:
I just think the whole "security by obscurity" thing doesn't work anymore for large swaths of what was formerly very remote country. Upper Grand Gulch is a total zoo, irrespective of monument designation. Once you reach a certain critical mass of people using/enjoying/recreating/extracting resources/vandalizing, the whole Wild Wild West thing just doesn't work anymore. While I'd love to see Bears Ears and a whole bunch of other places remain pristine, the sad truth is that the population of the American West is growing, the Information Age is promulgating the spread of information (see: the discussion on this site of the Secret Society of Pictograph Panels), and I can't just bury my head in the sand and pretend like if we all just keep something on the down low, nobody will go spoil it. So that means Security by Enforcement - that is, an official designation for the land. That designation is counterproductive, of course, if there's no enforcement (and I think that's the point a lot of you guys are driving at).


On the other hand, if I'm going to a relatively unexplored area, I'm probably not going to post a trip report, or do it in very general terms.
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Well said and I think you described the general sentiment most of us here have with "That designation is counterproductive, of course, if there's no enforcement." If there really is 1800 visitors per week checking in with the ranger stations over 800 a week last week at the same time last year, and there's no funding and staff in place to accommodate all that, then that's likely going to create some problems somewhere. No doubt most people visiting the area are probably well meaning good people intent on being as respectful as they can to the land and resources and striving to practice LNT etiquette. However, there are always bad apples, and any increase of that proportion will likely lead to an increase in said bad apples as well and thus by pronouncing it a monument in addition to all the other attention and publicity it was getting leading up to that designation, there is now much less protection for the area if the appropriate proportional amount of funding and staff isn't there to manage it all while current reviews and managements plans are worked out in the interim. And the timing of it all happening right before it being handed over to an unsupportive administration may well prove disastrous for some parts. My fingers are crossed that doesn't turn out to be the case.

Jmr said:
Another bit of info to add about this, went to Indian Creek and down Beef Basin road through the canyon about a month ago, this is now all Bears Ears National Monument as well, "north" bears ears i suppose, and didn't see a soul off of highway 211, I had visited this area before and there were more people there then, before the national monument was created. I was surprised there were no rock climbers or anything in the indian creek area, although it might not have been climbing season? It was spring break and all the people just went to the naional park. Also went to cedar mesa area in November and there were quite a few people driving off the highways and parked along dirt roads, but only saw a few others in the canyons and on the trails.
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Nick said:
That's crazy. I drove through Indian Creek last March and it was PACKED with climbers.
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Maybe everyone that would have gone there thought that place would have surely doubled in crowds and opted to go elsewhere? [insert shoulder shrugging "I don't know" emoticon here]
 
From my perspective as an "outsider" who has been doing annual October desert trips since 2003- in general, everywhere in the Utah desert has been getting much busier. Capitol Reef would be only one example that we have really noticed. In Bears Ears- we had Moonhouse to ourselves in 2009, but in 2015 we picked up the 2 last remaining permits from Kane at only 15 min past opening. On the other hand though- in 2015 we also hiked Sheiks and a couple of Comb Ridge sites, and encountered no-one else on either of those days. I'm guessing that, the same as here in the Canadian Rockies- the easily accessed and publicized spots will become even more so, while the rest will remain more or less as is?
 
SteveR said:
From my perspective as an "outsider" who has been doing annual October desert trips since 2003- in general, everywhere in the Utah desert has been getting much busier. Capitol Reef would be only one example that we have really noticed. In Bears Ears- we had Moonhouse to ourselves in 2009, but in 2015 we picked up the 2 last remaining permits from Kane at only 15 min past opening. On the other hand though- in 2015 we also hiked Sheiks and a couple of Comb Ridge sites, and encountered no-one else on either of those days. I'm guessing that, the same as here in the Canadian Rockies- the easily accessed and publicized spots will become even more so, while the rest will remain more or less as is?
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Tis true. Some spots also get much more social media hype and therefor become tourist hot spots. These places tend to be the more accessible areas not far from a main road, highway, or other easy to drive road. Since dating and marrying my wife over 10 years ago, I've visited Capitol Reef multiple times each year and can say that the crowds have definitely picked up there. Her family, which has a lot of ancestry among the pioneer history down there used to do reunions down in Fruita every summer and it used seem like there were few others outside of her relatives that would be in any of the picnic areas there when we'd gather. Her family could almost always count on a certain picnic area being available on a Saturday afternoon and half the campground there would be vacant as well. Not so any more. That said, I find that the crowds tend to stick along the trails right off the highway and along the scenic drive corridor. For those willing to go beyond those trails and particularly off trail, there's plenty of solitude and tranquility to still be had. Seems like this is the case for so many other areas out there as well, and I imagine this would still be true of Bears Ears.
 
Any one else wonder if the controversy and corresponding publicity is partially driving the increased visitation.
 
Yeah, as has been mentioned we're at the first peak season after months of publicity and controversy and places like parts of Grand Gulch were already very popular and easily accessed. I'm skeptical that ten years from now numbers will be much different than if it wasn't given monument status.

Making any judgements on whether or not the designation is good or bad based on what's happening over the past couple months is kinda shortsighted. Count me among those who would prefer if everywhere was just BLM land with no restrictions with few people but those days are long gone and the potential alternatives to some management could be a lot uglier.

All that said there are still tons of spectacular places where you can see zero people if that's what you're after. Key is open up a map and get off the internet.
 
Brendan S said:
All that said there are still tons of spectacular places where you can see zero people if that's what you're after. Key is open up a map and get off the internet.
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Yeah, but that doesn't help with waiting in lines behind clueless tourists while you are trying to pickup your backcountry permit or busy phone lines because too many people are calling, etc. That's the part I'd like to avoid. :)
 
I think I'll just go in from the heads of tributary canyons like Cow Tank, Step, Dripping, etc down to the Gulch and just stay out of it fore the most part. Gotta get past those pour offs though...:oops:
 
SKLund said:
Sure Obama put a nice, big label on it.
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I believe what Ben was wondering is if the controversy and publicity could be driving the increased visitation more than if it were just designated as a monument and there wasn't such a big fuss about it.
 
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