About this site
Friends of Cedar Mesa is an editorial reading site about visiting, understanding, and stewarding the Bears Ears region of southeastern Utah. We publish essays, practical guides, and reference material for visitors who want a deeper relationship with the place than the trailhead sign provides.
What we do
We write. The pieces on this site are essays, primers, and short reference articles on the landscape, the archaeology, the contemporary tribal cultural context, and the practical ethics of visitation. Most pieces are written by one of a small group of contributors, drawing on published sources, personal field experience, and conversations with regional experts.
What we don’t do
We are not a non-profit organization. We do not accept donations on our own behalf. We are not affiliated with any federal land management agency, any tribal nation, or any specific conservation organization. We are not a guide service. We do not lead tours or recommend specific routes that would concentrate visitor traffic on previously quiet sites.
Who reads us
Mostly people planning a first or second trip to the region and looking for material that goes beyond a guidebook. Some teachers. Some researchers in adjacent fields. A small number of regular readers from within the regional communities themselves, whom we are honored by and try not to disappoint.
Editorial principles
- Defer to tribal voice on tribal matters. Where the cultural offices of the regional nations have published their own material on a topic, our job is to point readers toward it, not to summarize it.
- Cite when we can, omit when we can’t. We do not cite specific archaeological site locations. We do cite general published sources and recommend further reading.
- Restrain enthusiasm. The region rewards quiet attention more than enthusiastic broadcasting. Our tone tries to match.
Getting in touch
The contact page goes to a reader. Reasonable correspondence — corrections, additions, questions — is welcome. We try to respond, though not always quickly.