Trump cuts nearly 3 million acres from 2 Utah national monuments
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Sunset Arch is one of the sites that lost federal protections when Trump eliminated millions of acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante in 2017. Photo: Courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
President Trump is decimating both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.
Why it matters: Monday's orders reduce protections on nearly 3 million acres in southern Utah, affecting more than 90% of each monument's area.
Driving the news: Grand Staircase-Escalante will lose nearly 1.7 of its 1.87 million acres
- Bears Ears' 1.36 million acres will be reduced to about 121,000.
The big picture: The cuts are far more drastic than in 2017, when Trump eliminated almost half of Grand Staircase-Escalante and 85% of Bears Ears in what was then the largest reduction of federal land protections in U.S. history.
- The Biden administration restored the previous boundaries in 2021 and added 12,000 acres to Bears Ears.
Between the lines: Monday's cuts have been expected since last year, when Trump ordered his administration to find public lands to expand drilling and mining in the West.
Reality check: The practicality of extraction at the monuments has been debated for years.
- Although parcels were nominated for drilling leases before Biden restored the original Bears Ears boundaries, Utah officials have said there is "very little energy potential" at the monument.
- Uranium mining is more realistic. Trump originally shrank Bears Ears after industry pressure, and conservation groups say one uranium mine was reopened within the monument.
- A large coal deposit exists within the original boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante. But mining there wasn't considered profitable enough for companies to dig after Trump opened the land during his first term.
Caveat: Not all of the lands removed from the monuments are totally unprotected.
- Some sites remain within federal Wilderness Study Areas and Areas of Environmental Concern — designations that shield them from development, at least for now.
Yes, but: Trump's Interior Department last month announced a review of policies around WSAs, which conservation groups say could weaken the protections they offer.
How it works: National monuments are created by presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act to protect places of historic, prehistoric or scientific interest.
- By contrast, national parks are created by Congress.
Catch up quick: Former President Obama established Bears Ears in 2016 to be managed in cooperation with Indigenous tribes near the Four Corners.
- The Clinton administration created the largest-ever U.S. national monument when he announced Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996.
What's inside: The monuments include ancient ruins, fossils, rock art and many beloved recreation destinations.
State of play: Both have enraged Utah Republicans, who have long argued for smaller boundaries and less restrictive protections to allow potential expansion of drilling, mining, off-roading and grazing.
What's next: The monuments' shifting boundaries have left unresolved legal questions as to whether a president can unilaterally withdraw a predecessor's protections.
- The latest cuts will likely revive arguments from a 2017 lawsuit that claims Trump had no authority to rescind a monument.
- A similar dispute is at play in a lawsuit Utah officials filed in 2022 to stop Biden's restoration of the monuments. A federal judge threw it out in 2023, but an appeals court revived last month. It's unclear how that case will proceed now that Trump has effectively provided the outcome the lawsuit sought.