Bears Ears is being threatened by uranium mining

Bears Ears is being threatened by uranium mining

What good is a national monument if we allow toxic mining to spoil it?

 
Take Action
 

Drilling and uranium mining threaten to spoil Bears Ears.

That’s what we want to know, as federal officials decide whether to allow new drilling and ultimately mining for uranium on the edge of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.1

Less than two years ago, President Biden restored national monument protections to Bears Ears and its red rock canyons, high desert wildlife and ancient remains of Indigenous cultures.2 Why on earth would we now allow disruptive and damaging uranium mining right next door?

We’re telling the Interior Department to reject a new uranium drilling and mining plan near Bears Ears. Sign our petition to make your voice heard.

Bears Ears is full of treasures too priceless to lose.

Some things are priceless. They’re what national monuments are supposed to protect. And Bears Ears is full of priceless treasures, including:

  • the Valley of the Gods, with rock formations so rare and strange that it supplied a backdrop for episodes of the science-fiction show “Doctor Who,”3
  • the California condor, one of the most endangered birds in the world, with only a few hundred left in the wild,4
  • night skies that reveal countless stars, with even less light pollution than Yellowstone, Yosemite or Glacier national parks,5 and
  • House on Fire, the remains of an ancient granary built into canyon walls that, when backlit by the sun, appear as if flames are shooting up from the structure.

If a company called Atomic Minerals Corp. gets its way, drilling and mining for nearby uranium will threaten these wild and sacred treasures.6

Take action to protect Bears Ears from toxic uranium mining.

What happens if mining is permitted? For starters, heavy equipment will disrupt the peace and quiet of the high desert. Drilling rigs will emit pollution into the clear skies. If the rigs find uranium, mining will follow.

The White Mesa uranium mill, located just a mile outside of Bears Ears, has 700 million pounds of toxic waste stored in ponds on-site — an ecological sword of Damocles that’s already hanging over the monument.7

We demand better protection for Bears Ears and all of its treasures. Tell the Interior Department: Reject the new uranium drilling planned outside of Bears Ears.

Take Action

  1. Heather Richards and Hannah Northey, “Planned uranium drilling near Bears Ears sparks pushback,” PoliticoPro, May 3, 2023.
  2. “President Biden Restores Protections for Three National Monuments and Renews American Leadership to Steward Lands, Waters, and Cultural Resources,” The White House, October 7, 2021.
  3. Sean P. Means, “Dr. Who makes a Utah house call,” Salt Lake City Tribune, April 22, 2021. 
  4. Jenny Rowland-Shea, “American Treasure at Risk: How Bears Ears National Monument Stacks up to U.S. National Parks,” Center for American Progress, April 5, 2017.
  5. Jenny Rowland-Shea, “American Treasure at Risk: How Bears Ears National Monument Stacks up to U.S. National Parks,” Center for American Progress, April 5, 2017.
  6. Heather Richards and Hannah Northey, “Planned uranium drilling near Bears Ears sparks pushback,” PoliticoPro, May 3, 2023.
  7. Sharon Udasin, “Uranium mill adjacent to Bears Ears has become a ‘radioactive waste dump’: report,” The Hill, March 16, 2022.