My first book, Voices from Bears Ears: Seeking Common Ground on Sacred Land, was published in October 2018 by the University of Arizona Press. Featuring photographs by Stephen Strom and a Foreword by celebrated historian Patricia Nelson Limerick, Voices was a finalist for the 2020 Oregon Book Award in the General Nonfiction category.
From the back cover of Voices:
In late 2016, President Barack Obama designated 1.35 million acres of land in southeast Utah as Bears Ears National Monument. Rich in history and unsurpassed in natural beauty, Bears Ears is at the heart of a national debate over the future of public lands.
In Voices from Bears Ears: Seeking Common Ground on Sacred Land, writer Rebecca Robinson and photographer Stephen Strom capture the passions of those on opposing sides of the Bears Ears battle. Native American tribes seek to protect sacred ancestral lands; a coalition of conservation-minded citizens and organizations have supported them. Those who oppose the monument see a federal "land grab" that threatens to rob local people of an economic future by limiting income from ranching and mining. What unites these individuals is a reverence for a homeland that defines their cultural and spiritual identity. Therein lies hope for finding common ground.
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“Here is an important breakthrough book—beautiful to look at and heartening to read. By listening keenly to the people whose roots go deep into the swirling sandstone of Bears Ears country, by looking respectfully into the faces of the high cliffs and the equally expressive faces of the people who love this land, Robinson and Strom give us an impressive example of what it will take to find common ground.”
—Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Great Tide Rising
Along with Voices photographer Stephen Strom, I have read at more than 20 independent bookstores, universities, and book festivals. I launched and maintain the website BearsEarsCountry.com, featuring book excerpts, audio clips, interactive panoramas of the Bears Ears landscape, and a blog covering the latest news pertaining to all things Bears Ears.
(L to R) Speaking at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 2019; signing books at the University of Colorado Boulder, November 2018; being interviewed for a student newspaper at the University of Colorado Boulder, November 2018; viewing an exhibit at the Canyon Country Discovery Center in Monticello, Utah, featuring Stephen Strom’s photographs accompanied by text from Voices from Bears Ears.