August 1, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Proposal for a 480-Foot Communications Tower in the Heart of Bears Ears National Monument Withdrawn – 8.1.24
Contacts:
Judi Brawer, Wildlands Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (208) 871-0596; judi@suwa.org
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT – A Florida-based developer has withdrawn its controversial proposal to build a 480-foot communications tower in the heart of Bears Ears National Monument. This decision follows on SUWA and 7 other groups submitting a formal “Request for Environmental Review of the Proposed Bears Ears Site” challenging the developer’s application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and calling for a full Environmental Impact Statement. Below is a statement from SUWA Wildlands Attorney Judi Brawer and additional information.
“The heart of Bears Ears National Monument is no place for a communications tower and SUWA is thrilled that the developer has withdrawn their proposal” said Judi Brawer, SUWA Wildlands Attorney. “Our comments highlighted that the FCC and applicant failed to comply with federal environmental laws, and also failed to consult with numerous tribes with significant cultural ties to Bears Ears, including the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation.”
In a June 2024 Writers on the Range syndicated column, San Juan County commissioner and Navajo Nation Council Delegate Mark Maryboy described the proposed communications tower as “a spear in the heart of the Bears Ears area.”
Janet Slowman-Chee, Executive Director of Utah Diné Bikéyah, said, “All prayers are real, serenity, hozho is upheld for all animals and people.” Hozho is a Navajo word with multiple meanings, including peace, balance, beauty, and harmony. To be “in Hozho” is to be at one with and a part of the world around you.
Additional information:
A Florida-based developer proposed a 480-foot communications tower in the heart of Bears Ears National Monument (BENM), and adjacent to Natural Bridges National Monument. The tower would have been placed on a Utah Trust Lands Administration (TLA) parcel within the boundaries of BENM, just south of Natural Bridges National Monument. The state-owned parcel is zoned for a maximum tower height of 35 feet, but the proposed tower would have been 480 feet tall with red blinking lights at the top and midway point – taller than the tallest building in Utah (the currently under-construction 450-foot Astra Tower in Downtown Salt Lake City).
The proposed tower would have been visible throughout much of BENM, including from the Bears Ears Buttes for which the Monument was named, as well as from Natural Bridges National Monument, including its only campground. Natural Bridges, which is managed by the National Park Service (NPS), was the first International Dark Sky Park certified by the International Dark-Sky Association.
To our knowledge, while limited outreach was done to some Tribal Nations, at least a dozen Tribes with strong cultural and historical ties to Bears Ears (including the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation) were not contacted for consultation on impacts to cultural resources.
Because of the tower’s extreme height, it needed approval from the FCC, which is required to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The developer filed their request for approval, in the form of an “Environmental Assessment Summary Report”, on June 26, 2024. In response to the FCC application, SUWA and 7 other groups submitted a formal “Request for Environmental Review of the Proposed Bears Ears Site,” challenging the application and calling for a full Environmental Impact Statement. Among many other issues, the groups highlighted that “Nowhere does the Summary Report mention that the tower is in the middle of BENM – in fact, not one of the 21 maps provided in the application … show BENM. And, with no supporting information or analysis, it claims that there will be no impacts on cultural, visual, natural, or any other resources.”
Under the proposed Bear Ears Land Exchange, the parcel where the communications tower was proposed would have been transferred from TLA to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the tower application would likely have been rejected. The exchange (which the state of Utah pulled out of) was supposed to be a “gold mine” for Utah schools.
Additional information – including, a letter from the National Park Service opposing the tower, and previous media coverage—can be found here. A petition opposing the project has over 3,000 signatures from all across the country.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
