President Donald Trump has issued an executive order shrinking the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
The president signed the order at a special White House event Monday afternoon, saying the move will give the country access to “several resources that are vital to energy and resource independence and, in turn, critical to national security” in the Bears Ears region. Those resources include minerals like silver, copper, lead, uranium and zinc.
Together the two monuments encompassed more than 3 million acres with Bears Ears accounting for about 1.36 million and Grand Staircase spanning nearly 1.9 million acres.
Monday’s modifications have shrunk that footprint to 303,000 acres with Bears Ears covering about 121,000 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante accounting for approximately 182,000 acres.
Utah lawmakers applauded the action, saying the reduced size and scale allows agencies to better provide management, preservation and public access to both monuments.
But, the move could trigger new legal fights over the boundaries and a president’s powers under the Antiquities Act.
State Attorney General Derek Brown said, “The Antiquities Act was never meant to be a tool for locking up millions of acres with the stroke of a pen. Today’s action takes a major step in the right direction of appropriately sized monuments allowing responsible stewardship that works with our communities, not against them. Utah has fought hard to enforce Antiquities Act limits on monument size, and we will continue fighting to ensure the law is applied faithfully — and that Utahns have lasting certainty about the lands they call home,”
U.S. Senator Mike Lee, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources also applauded the move, saying in a written statement, “Today’s proclamation shows that President Trump listens to Utahns and respects the limits Congress placed on the Antiquities Act,” said Chairman Mike Lee. “For too long, presidents have weaponized monument designations to lock up millions of acres, close roads, restrict grazing, and cut rural communities off from lands their families have lived on and worked for generations. I thank the President for correcting this abuse and keeping his promise to the people of Utah.”
Meanwhile, state conservation advocates and house Democrats opposed the reduction. Utah House Democratic Leader Angela Romero said, "This back-and-forth with every administration has to stop. These lands deserve the protections that come with national monument status."
She said, "The federal government should honor Tribal Nations’ wishes by protecting these sacred lands from unnecessary development and overuse. These are places where Tribal history, culture, and spiritual traditions continue today. Future generations deserve the opportunity to experience these places as they have existed for centuries."
The area in southeastern Utah has been the subject of protections for years.
President Bill Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996 and Bears Ears was established under the Obama Administration in 2016.
In 2017 Trump reduced both monuments before President Joe Biden restored the boundaries in 2021.
