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Bears Ears and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition

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Bears Ears and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Case 1:17-cv-02590 Document 1 Filed 12/04/17 Page 1 of 61 THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOPI TRIBE 1 Main Street Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039 NAVAJO NATION Old BIA Club Building Window Rock, AZ 86515 UTE INDIAN TRIBE Case No. ______________ 898 S. 7500 E. Fort Duchesne, Utah 84026 UTE MOUNTAIN UTE TRIBE 124 Mike Wash Rd. Towaoc, Colorado 81334 ZUNI TRIBE 1203B State HWY 53 Zuni, New Mexico 87327, Plaintiffs, v. DONALD J. TRUMP, in his official capacity as President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 RYAN ZINKE, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 BRIAN STEED, in his official capacity as Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 SONNY PERDUE, in his official capacity as Secretary of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue SW Washington, D.C. 20250 Case 1:17-cv-02590 Document 1 Filed 12/04/17 Page 2 of 61 TONY TOOKE, in his official capacity as Chief of the U.S. Forest Service 1400 Independence Avenue SW Washington, D.C. 20250, Defendants. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 JURISDICTION AND VENUE ................................................................................................... 4 PLAINTIFFS ................................................................................................................................. 5 DEFENDANTS ............................................................................................................................. 5 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................... 7 I. THE ANTIQUITIES ACT ....................................................................................................... 7 II. THE PUSH FOR BEARS EARS AND THE BEARS EARS INTER-TRIBAL COALITION ............... 13 III. OVERVIEW OF HISTORIC NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTIONS TO BEARS EARS .................. 19 IV. CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF BEARS EARS TO HOPI AND ZUNI PEOPLES .................................................................................................................................... 22 V. CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF BEARS EARS TO THE NAVAJO PEOPLE .. ......................................................................................................................................... 26 VI. CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF BEARS EARS TO UTE PEOPLES ........ 29 VII. GENERAL HISTORIC AND SCIENTIFIC IMPORTANCE .......................................................... 34 VIII. THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S EXTENSIVE PUBLIC OUTREACH AND COORDINATION ... 35 IX. THE PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT ....................... 36 X. PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ATTEMPT TO REVOKE THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AND REPLACE IT WITH DIFFERENT MONUMENTS. .................................................................................................. 41 FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF ................................................................................................... 52 SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF .............................................................................................. 53 THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF ................................................................................................. 54 FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF ............................................................................................. 55 PRAYER FOR RELIEF ............................................................................................................. 56 ii Case 1:17-cv-02590 Document 1 Filed 12/04/17 Page 3 of 61 INTRODUCTION 1. This case arises from President Trump’s unlawful attempt to revoke and replace a national monument of major historic and scientific importance in violation of the United States Constitution and the Antiquities Act of 1906. Beginning with Theodore Roosevelt, Presidents have designated more than one hundred monuments throughout our country. However, no President has ever previously sought to abolish one by Proclamation because the Antiquities Act does not authorize the President to do so. In attempting to, in effect, abolish the Bears Ears National Monument (“Bears Ears” or the “Monument”), the President has exceeded the limited authority delegated to his office, and violated the Antiquities Act and the separation of powers established in the Constitution. Further, the President was plainly aware that he lacked the authority to revoke a monument and is thus transparently attempting to evade that strict limitation by purporting to reduce it but, as described herein, the President’s action must be viewed as a revocation, particularly with respect to all objects not included in the two “new” monuments. 2. President Barack Obama, in recognition of the historic trust obligation the United States owes to Native Nations, established Bears Ears by Proclamation on December 28, 2016 (the “Proclamation” or “Bears Ears Proclamation”). Proclamation No. 9558, 82 Fed. Reg. 1139 (Dec. 28, 2016). President Obama proclaimed the Monument pursuant to his authority under the Antiquities Act, just as many previous Presidents have established national monuments. Id. at 1143. 3. President Obama’s decision to issue the Proclamation came after years of extensive outreach and coordination with Plaintiff Tribes (defined below), state and local officials, and other stakeholders. To ensure that all voices were heard, the Department of Interior 1 Case 1:17-cv-02590 Document 1 Filed 12/04/17 Page 4 of 61 and the Department of Agriculture also visited the Bears Ears region and heard directly from all sides regarding the resources at risk and the importance of the area. 4. Bears Ears has been home to Native peoples since time immemorial, and is still cherished by Native peoples for its cultural, spiritual, and archaeological importance. Bears Ears contains hundreds of thousands of objects of historic and scientific importance, many traditional cultural properties, and many sacred sites. Plaintiff Tribes in particular continue regularly to use Bears Ears to: collect plants, minerals, objects and water for religious and cultural ceremonies and medicinal purposes; hunt, fish and gather; provide offerings at archaeological sites; and conduct ceremonies on the land. In fact, Bears Ears is so culturally and spiritually significant that some ceremonies use items that can only be harvested from Bears Ears. Moreover, some members of Plaintiff Tribes also continue to hold grazing permits and allotments in the area. Bears Ears is in every way a home to Plaintiff Tribes. 5. Because of its critical contemporary and historical importance, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (the “Coalition”), which consists of the five Plaintiff Tribes, proposed turning the Bears Ears area into a national monument. The Coalition and its allies collected information and advocated for the creation of the Monument. Plaintiff Tribes have also already begun to assume their responsibilities under the Proclamation as each Tribe has designated a representative to sit on the Bears Ears Commission (“Commission”) that is intended to provide guidance and recommendations on the management of Bears Ears. This Commission has already formed and held several meetings to establish its bylaws and begin coordinating with the local Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service offices. 6. On April 26, 2017, President Trump called for an arbitrary and unprecedented review of national monument designations made since January 1, 1996, where the designation 2 Case 1:17-cv-02590 Document 1 Filed 12/04/17 Page 5 of 61 covers more than 100,000 acres or “where the Secretary determines that the designation or expansion was made without adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders[.]” Exec. Order No. 13792, 82 Fed. Reg. 20429 (Apr. 26, 2017). The review was purportedly to determine whether the designations conform to the objectives of the Antiquities Act. Id. 7. On December 4, 2017, President Trump signed a Proclamation (“Trump Proclamation”) purporting to “modify” the Bears Ears National Monument and designate instead two different, smaller units called the Indian Creek unit and the Shash Jáa unit. In reality, this drastic change is a revocation of Bears Ears and a replacement of it with two new monuments. The Trump Proclamation eliminates specific objects designated for protection in the Bears Ears Proclamation from the two new “units.” These two different monuments consist of 201,397 acres combined. Bears Ears National Monument is 1.35 million acres, and the revocation thus removes federal monument protection from all the objects in over 1.1 million acres. While the Proclamation purports to reduce or modify Bears Ears, this action constitutes a revocation. 8. The Antiquities Act authorizes Presidents to designate federal public lands, such as Bears Ears, as national monuments to safeguard and preserve landmarks, structures, and objects of historic or scientific importance. The Antiquities Act, however, does not authorize presidents to rescind or modify national monuments created by their predecessors, and certainly not to revoke and replace them with smaller ones as has been done here. That power is reserved to Congress alone. 9. President Trump’s unprecedented Proclamation revoking
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