Students Study Conflict and Collaboration at Bears Ears

Aug 12, 2020 | Emma Venarde, Columbia University
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This summer Josh Fisher, the director of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity, has been teaching a summer course at the Columbia School of Professional Studies called Clinic on Conflict and Collaboration in Natural Resource Management (NECR 5260). This year, the clinic focused on the case of the Bears Ears National Monument, and the clinic conducted research to explore how the management of public lands contributes to peace and conflict among stakeholders in the region. Bears Ears, an important cultural site for the five Native American tribes that live in the area, was designated a national monument by the Obama administration. But almost immediately after this designation, the Trump administration reduced the size of the monument by 85 percent. There are many stakeholders with differing views on the monument designation, from ranchers to tribal leaders to recreational users.