In April 2022, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition began a formal partnership with Bears Ears Partnership to strengthen Visit With Respect, an educational initiative created to guide visitors in caring for the Bears Ears cultural landscape. This collaboration has since expanded to include the Bears Ears Commission, in an effort to center Traditional Indigenous Knowledge, language, and cultural values in promoting respectful visitation across the greater Bears Ears region. Our teams—including the Coalition’s Cultural Resources Subcommittee—have worked together to refine the Visit With Respect guidelines and expand outreach through co-created projects, education tools, and public engagement.
The most powerful aspect of Bears Ears is the enduring Indigenous presence that lives in every canyon, mesa, and stone. While the region’s natural beauty is striking, its true significance lies in the living cultural and spiritual connections Indigenous peoples continue to maintain with these ancestral lands. With more than 100,000 documented cultural sites within the monument boundaries, Bears Ears is one of the most significant cultural landscapes on Earth, and it remains a vital place of healing, ceremony, and memory for many Tribal Nations today.
Protecting this sacred landscape begins with recognizing its ongoing significance. The structures, rock imagery, and pottery you may encounter were not left behind, they were left with intention. These places are still used in spiritual and cultural practices by Tribes and Pueblos, and they represent a living connection to ancestors and homelands. Visitors play a critical role in protecting what remains by choosing to Visit With Respect.
Before your visit, we encourage you to explore the 20 Visit With Respect guidelines, each accompanied by easy-to-remember visual icons that help you learn and act quickly. You can find more information about these guidelines at the Bears Ears Partnership’s Visit With Respect page, or stop by the Bears Ears Education Center in Bluff, Utah, for more guidance on how to be a respectful visitor.
Your actions matter. Looting, graffiti, and site damage cause lasting harm to cultural landscapes and the Tribal communities who are working to protect them. These are not abandoned places or artifacts, they are active, sacred spaces left with intention and still used today. Visit With Respect exists to ensure these places are protected not just now, but for generations to come.
Thank you for being a good visitor and helping to protect Bears Ears for the next generation.
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