Outdoor retail giant Patagonia along with environmental and tribal groups filed lawsuits on Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump’s move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, seek to reactivate cases initially filed in 2017 when Trump previously reduced the size of the two monuments. The new filings challenge both Trump’s 2017 and 2026 proclamations.
After Trump shrunk the monuments in 2017, President Joe Biden then restored and expanded the boundaries in 2021. The lawsuits had not received a final judgement at that point, so the cases were administratively closed. Trump then shrunk the monuments again by roughly 90% on July 13.
“President Trump’s unlawful attack dismantling Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments was a dark day for America and our nation’s long tradition of protecting parks, monuments and wild places for current and future generations,” said Steve Bloch, legal director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “With the filing of these lawsuits, we intend to make sure Trump doesn’t have the final word over the fate of these treasured landscapes.”
Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email that Trump “rightsized” the monuments.
“The Obama and Biden administrations abused the Antiquities Act to lock up millions of acres of Utah’s public lands, impoverishing local communities and sharply restricting access for recreation, grazing, resource development, and fire prevention,” she said.
A Department of Interior spokesperson echoed the White House, saying in an email that Trump is “ending the abuse of the Antiquities Act, restoring access, protecting our heritage, and putting Utahns and all Americans first.”
Read the full article by Brooke Larsen at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.