Depends on your point of view. National Parks and National Monuments sound great on the surface. But they draw HUGE visitation and change these places from what was wilderness to something akin to an amusement park. Some say, the best way to ruin a wilderness… make it a National Park. There are actually many informed environmentalists and archaeologists who believe a better solution would be a wilderness designation. But that would require an act of congress… so probably not in the cards. Too bad, because the NM status will attract millions without the funding and staff to protect the ruins in the Bears Ears area. (I have already witnessed this in the past couple of years) Not to mention it will turn the sleepy town of Blanding into another Moab circus. I have been visiting the Bears Ears area for over 30 years for a month at a time every spring. In have been in nearly every canyon and side canyon on Cedar Mesa. And I have an anthropology degree. My vote would be to make it a wilderness; not a NP or NM… NM status will turn wilderness trails where you can go hike without seeing many people and enjoy the ruins on a personal basis to paved trails, daily limits on people, and restrictions on getting close to the ruins. That was the beauty of the place as opposed to NPs like Chaco and Mesa Verde where you can’t get close to a ruin without a range holding your had or guiding you on a tour. Formerly, Cedar Mesa was known as the best place in the entire southwest to visit backcountry ruins in solitude. Too bad that people in the future will not get to enjoy the place the way I have. Unfortunately, the Bears Ears became a political football and good sense went out the window…. Just sayin’… my 2 cents…
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