Walk softly. Learn deeply. Leave the canyons as you found them.
Reading and resources for visitors, students, and stewards of the Bears Ears region of southeastern Utah.
How to visit ancestral places with respect
The high mesas and canyon rims of the region hold sites that have endured for a millennium. They will not endure another century of careless visitation. A short, practical guide.
Read the guideVisiting with respect — what the phrase means
An essay on the principle of respect-based visitation and what it asks of us when we encounter places that are still living to other people.
Packing out what we bring in — a desert backcountry primer
Why the dry climate makes human waste a long-term problem in canyon country, and how to solve it.
Perishable artifacts and what they tell us
Sandals, baskets, cordage, and corn — the fragile evidence of daily life that has survived only in dry shelter.
Monitoring sites — a citizen’s role
How visitors with training and patience help document change at fragile archaeological places.
Bears Ears on the World Monuments Watch (2020)
Why an international preservation organization added Bears Ears to its list of vulnerable places.
Defending Bears Ears — a short history
Three presidential proclamations, two boundaries, and the long argument over how this land is best held.