MONTICELLO, Utah (AP) – U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell toured archaeological sites in southeast Utah on Friday that a coalition of tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument.

After starting the day in the city of Monticello, Jewell and other Interior Department officials hiked out to nearby ancient cliff dwellings as part of a research trip this week to hear from those who support and oppose creating a monument in the Bears Ears area.

Supporters say the 1.9 million-acre area includes sacred Native American sites that needs bolstered protections and are pushing for President Barack Obama to designate it as a monument.

Utah Republican officials and local officials say a monument would be overly broad and would close the area for development and recreation. They’re instead backing legislation from U.S. Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz that would have Congress designate 1.4 million acres around Bears Ears as a conservation area.

Chaffetz said this week Jewell’s visit is helpful and she taking every meeting that his office and Utah Rep. Rob Bishop have suggested. He said he wants Jewell to understand how locals opposed to the monument would feel its effects for generations to come.

The U.S. Interior Department says Jewell’s visit doesn’t mean a monument decision is imminent.

“I’m here to listen,” Jewell said Thursday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

When she arrived in Monticello on Thursday, dozens of protesters were outside a community center where she was meeting with San Juan County commissioners, representatives from the Blue Mountain Dine and others.

Jewell told officials and locals that no language has been drafted for a monument proclamation, according to the Deseret News.

“It is difficult to make the decisions that you all have to make and I have to make,” she said, according to the newspaper. “We think about the long game. We think about what is not only right for our generation, or our children’s or grandchildren’s but the generations to follow. I know I sleep well when I make decisions on that basis.”

After meeting with many opponents of the monument Thursday, Jewell planned to spend Friday meeting with supporters. On Saturday, she’s scheduled to attend a public hearing in Bluff.