美国国家公共电台 NPR With National Monuments Under Review, Bears Ears Is Focus Of Fierce Debate

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The new interior secretary is keeping a promise to travel to the rural West and talk to people who are concerned about large national monuments that protect federal public land. Ryan Zinke's first stop is the new Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. It's on land considered sacred to Native Americans. We're going to spend some time there now to learn why local opposition¹ to it is so fierce. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE²: A lot of the anger over federal public land in rural Utah today can be traced back to a windy, gray day in Arizona in September of 1996.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BILL CLINTON: On this remarkable³ site, God's handiwork is everywhere in the natural beauty of the Escalante Canyons⁵ and in the...

SIEGLER: This is President Bill Clinton designating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah at a ceremony 150 miles away at the Grand Canyon⁴.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

SIEGLER: But Clinton didn't even set foot in Utah that day. The planning for the monument was largely done in secret, and state leaders got virtually no heads up that it was coming. Twenty-one years later, mistrust toward the federal government persists in the tight-knit, mostly Mormon town of Blanding, Utah. Folks can't help but draw a parallel to how the sweeping⁶ Bears Ears monument ended up in their backyard.

LAURA O'DONNELL: I don't understand how it would protect the land when you're inviting⁷ thousands of footprints in that - to people that it was unknown before. I mean they didn't - had no clue about this area.

SIEGLER: At Blanding's visitor center, Laura O'Donnell is uncomfortable that her home is suddenly the flashpoint in the environmental movement.

O'DONNELL: I like it the way it is. We've got our farmers, our ranchers. We've got the largest school district right here in Blanding - no.

SIEGLER: This is how deep the opposition runs - that even the woman working the tourist center doesn't want a new monument that could attract more tourists. This latest battle in sagebrush country goes a lot further than the usual anxieties about a new monument restricting mining or other development. Longtime locals like Jami Bayles put it this way. People were offended when the government came in and declared that Bears Ears is under threat.

JAMI BAYLES: We keep that place pristine⁸. We keep it clean. We keep - you know, we check on it all the time. And so I guess my argument is, OK, yeah, it belongs to everybody, but not everybody has been taking care of it.

SIEGLER: Bayles organized her neighbors into a group called San Juan Stewards⁹. From her office at a small college, you can see the twin Bears Ears buttes out on the vast Cedar¹⁰ Mesa west of town. While not as visually dramatic as the famous national parks nearby, the area is dense¹¹ with cliff dwellings¹² and ancient artifacts, and the protected monument is huge - 1.3 million acres.

BAYLES: Monuments should be an honor to an area, and we feel like this one is nothing but a punishment.

SIEGLER: Bayles says the monument is being pushed by extreme out-of-state environmentalists. Now, there are deep pockets behind the protect Bears Ears campaign - Hollywood actors, outdoor retail¹³ giants like Patagonia.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Unintelligible).

SIEGLER: But San Juan County is 50 percent Native American. And 30 miles down the road on the Navajo reservation, tribal¹⁴ leaders say it's a lie for people in Blanding to argue that the monument is being pushed on them from the outside.

KENNETH MARYBOY: For them to be here for 130 years, they should at least understand the Native Americans now.

SIEGLER: Kenneth Maryboy, a chapter president for the Navajo Nation, says tribes around the Four Corners welcomed the outside money and help because they didn't have a voice before. Maryboy was part of the original talks to protect Bears Ears with Utah's congressional delegation¹⁵ that began nearly a decade ago. They broke down last year.

MARYBOY: Our gripe and our fight is to preserve what's there - the Native American artifacts, the antiquities¹⁶ and all the shrines¹⁷ and the ruins.

SIEGLER: Maryboy says bringing national monument status to Bears Ears will help protect those antiquities from vandalism. He says it could also guard against looting, a historical problem here.

MARYBOY: The San Juan County good old boys don't want to see this happen. They adamantly¹⁸, openly said, this is our land; the damn Navajos need to go back to the reservation.

SIEGLER: There is a lot at stake ahead of Secretary Zinke's visit. Tribes point to a history of broken promises. And if the Trump¹⁹ administration moves to abolish Bears Ears, you could see this turning into the next Standing²⁰ Rock protest. Or on the other side, if the monument stays as is, do the anti-government militias²¹ show up?

Back near Blanding, I met Ferd Johnson for a tour of some of this area's famous rugged²² canyon country. We're riding ATVs. Ferd's retired²³, but he's long guided tourists in and out of what's now the monument.

FERD JOHNSON: The Bears Ears - that's a beauty out there. It's - it is really nice.

SIEGLER: Johnson has a compromise. He says, why not just shrink the monument and just protect the cliff dwellings and the artifacts themselves?

JOHNSON: All these environmentalists, these Navajos, Hopis and the other Indians didn't even know where the Bears Ears was, and they'd still come and ask, where is it? (Laughter) Why is it so sacred if they don't even know where it is?

SIEGLER: The tribes dispute this. Some have already signaled they'll sue if after Secretary Zinke's Utah trip the administration moves to rescind²⁴ any or all of Bears Ears. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, in southeast Utah.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

8 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

9 stewards   

（轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家

参考例句：

• The stewards all wore armbands. 乘务员都戴了臂章。
• The stewards will inspect the course to see if racing is possible. 那些干事将检视赛马场看是否适宜比赛。

10 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

11 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

12 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

14 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

15 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

16 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

17 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

18 adamantly   

adv.坚决地，坚定不移地，坚强不屈地

参考例句：

• "Come over here,"he told her adamantly. “到这边来，”他对她坚定地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His family were adamantly opposed to the marriage. 他的家人坚决反对这门亲事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

20 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

21 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

22 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

23 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

24 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。