Consultation on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from Planning to Implementation

Abstract

Our ancestors . . . left their mark upon the land through their rock art, settlements, pottery sherds, and sacred sites; they are buried in the canyons and plateaus of the Grand Staircase. Their spirit voices silently echo through the canyons, while the soft canyon breezes whisper to remind us of the sacredness of the land. Our spiritual cores, as well as our ancestral ties, is in these very canyon which have been set aside as a national monument. Wilfred Numkena, Hopi Now in my twenty-first year of resource management with the government, I am grateful that I am lucky enough to work for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as the assistant monument manager for cultural and earth sciences. For the past decade I have managed complex cultural resource programs on the Colorado Plateau, and until taking this current position I remained only peripherally involved in tribal consultation efforts. As an archaeologist for the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests I worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from the Verde Valley of central Arizona, including Sedona, to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Now for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) my jurisdiction extends north of Bryce Canyon to Highway 12. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Shortly after the designation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, I came to work for the BLM as a team leader for that planning effort. My team included members specializing in geology, paleontology, hydrology, soils, prehistory, and history, the programs I now manage. These physical and cultural sciences represent some of the most significant programs in terms of the mandate for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument which "embraces a spectacular array of scientific and historic resources" ("Establishment [End Page 28] of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by the President of the United States of America," 18 September 1996, A Proclamation [henceforth "Proc. 6920"]). The mandate and the management of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument stand in contrast to other public lands in southern Utah, which were set aside predominantly for their scenic qualities and the enjoyment of the public (Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and Capitol Reef National Parks). The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is the first ever monument entrusted to the Bureau of Land Management, one that represents an experiment in alternative management paradigms. Of particular interest are the monument's geology, paleontology, archaeology, history, and biology (botany and wildlife). Relative to the cultural aspects of archaeology and history, "archaeological inventories carried out to date show extensive use of places within the monument by ancient Native American cultures [and] . . . many more undocumented sites that exist within the monument are of significant scientific and historic value worthy of preservation for future study" (Proc. 6902). The following quote from the plan elaborates on that theme: Monument lands contain an extensive array of varied, non-renewable prehistoric archaeological sites, including clusters of unique sites that represent contact between the Fremont and Anasazi, particularly in the Kaiparowits regions. These "cultural resources" are valued by Native American Indian tribes, local communities, the scientific community, private organizations and interested individuals from around the world. These sites represent an important record of prehistoric and historic cultures and events that have intrinsic value to contemporary Native American Indians who still have cultural, historic, and religious ties to these resources. Furthermore, these prehistoric sites provide opportunities to visitors for education and enjoyment. (BLM, Grand Staircase-Escalante Management Plan [2000]: 10B11) One of the specific tasks of the management plan addresses traditional cultural properties, which are those sites recognized by contemporary Native American Indians as important to their cultural continuity. These sites will be identified, respected, preserved, and managed for continued recognized traditional uses. Consultation with appropriate Native American Indian communities will be a priority. Archaeological sites and Traditional Cultural Properties will be...