Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its final management plan and Environmental Impact Study for the two small national monument units created by President Trump in 2017 to replace the Bears Ears National Monument designated by President Obama. The following is a statement by Katherine Malone-France, chief preservation officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation:

“This monument management plan is fundamentally flawed and premature. The National Trust and other plaintiffs are actively challenging President Trump’s unprecedented rollback of the monument’s land area by 85 percent. The plan should not be finalized before the litigation is complete. Given that the plan only considers the management needs of the much smaller—and currently contested—footprint, it is not a credible document.

“The plan also falls far short of providing a framework for proper stewardship of a landscape that holds deep significance for multiple tribes. It completely lacks appropriate measures to ensure protection of the significant cultural and historic resources that prompted the national monument designation in the first place. The plan appears to leave the resources with even less protection than they had before the monument was designated.

“We will continue to push for the restoration of the Bears Ears National Monument to its original boundaries, and for a comprehensive management plan that truly protects the resources on the land that tell the stories of more than 12,000 years of human history.”