I've never been to either Monument, but the massive size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase give me pause as to whether they were designated to "protect a specific natural, cultural or historic feature". If you recall as these areas were being proposed and debated it was not without controversy - there were many opponents to the designation. So maybe the size is necessary, I am not an authority and can't speak to that.
However, while we all want as much undisturbed wilderness and protected-undisturbed landscapes as possible, the reality is that most of America's public land is not set aside for hunters or hikers or bird watchers. It was established under the ideas of multiple use - so while a few of us use it to recreate (hunt, hike, ski, climb, etc), many more Americans benefit from the use of the land for lumber, grazing, and mineral and natural resource extraction. This is not land transfer - I opposed transfer wholeheartedly - this is multiple use.
I am pragmatic and understand that the more land that is closed off from these extractive uses - the louder the call for state transfer will be. So lets work together, be reasonable and allow that there are other uses for land than just those that serve our direct benefit or ideological bent, and keep the focus on fights for access, funding for land management and opposing state transfer.
