Trump shrinks Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah
The move would slash protections on nearly 3 million acres and reopen the monuments to mining and energy development, officials said.
- On Monday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order reducing the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, undoing protections established by previous administrations on sacred public lands.
- Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum initiated the review to expand U.S. energy production, fulfilling a goal of Utah officials who long argued the state should control its own lands for mining coal and uranium.
- Davina Smith-Idjesa, co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, called the reduction "heartbreaking," saying the area is a "living cultural site" holding tribal histories, ceremonies, and ancestral footprints.
- The executive action triggers new legal challenges over whether a president has authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act to alter boundaries of existing monuments, a power legally contested between federal and state officials.
- Administration policies aim to tap natural resource wealth across more than 100,000 square miles of federal lands, reversing the Biden-era goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
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Grazing, motorcycling, and logging will become possible in much of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante.
Trump Shrinks 2 National Monuments
President Trump on Monday reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah, undoing protections established by former presidents on public lands that are sacred among many Native Americans. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and scenic canyons, as well as...
During his first term in office, the Republican president had already announced that the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument had been amputated, but these reductions had been cancelled in 2021 by Joe Biden.
Trump cuts nearly 3M acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bears Ears national monuments; SUWA vows to fight in court
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 13, 2026 (Gephardt Daily) — Surrounded by Utah elected leaders including Gov. Spencer Cox and Sen. Mike Lee, Pres. Donald Trump on Monday signed executive orders to reduce Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments by a total 2.93 million acres. One Proclamation reduces the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from approximately 1.87 million acres to approximately 181,500 acres. The oth…
Donald Trump perhaps undirrittaði í gær possetatilskipanir sans fela í ser að tvö friðuð svæði í Utah verða minnkuð niður í un það bil einn tiunda af nuverandi stærð. Čar meða verða milljónir hektara af vernduðu landi opnaðar fyrir vinnslu jarðefnaeldsneytis og námuvinnslu. Trump undirrittaði yfirlýsingararar al fundi í Hvíta husinu asamt embættismönnum Repúblikanafloksins, tár meðal rikisstjóra Utah og...
Trump signs orders attacking Utah monuments based on false information
DENVER—President Donald Trump today signed proclamations attempting to shrink the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, reducing the size of each by about 90 percent. Bears Ears National Monument will be reduced by over 1.2 million acres, and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be reduced by nearly 1.7 million acres. During the signing, President […] The post Trump signs orders attacking Utah monuments based on fa…
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