President Donald Trump has announced a reduction in the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in Utah. The new orders will decrease protections on nearly 3 million acres, affecting more than 90% of each monument's area. Grand Staircase-Escalante will lose nearly 1.7 million acres, while Bears Ears will be reduced from 1.36 million acres to approximately 121,000 acres.
This reduction is more extensive than the cuts made in 2017, when Trump eliminated almost half of Grand Staircase-Escalante and 85% of Bears Ears, marking the largest reduction of federal land protections in U.S. history. The Biden administration had restored the previous boundaries in 2021 and added 12,000 acres to Bears Ears.
The recent cuts were anticipated following Trump's directive last year to identify public lands for expanded drilling and mining in the West. The practicality of resource extraction in these monuments has been debated, with Utah officials stating there is limited energy potential at Bears Ears. However, uranium mining has been a point of interest, and one uranium mine was reportedly reopened within the monument.
Not all areas removed from the monuments are entirely unprotected, as some sites remain within federal Wilderness Study Areas and Areas of Environmental Concern, which provide some level of protection against development. Trump's Interior Department has initiated a review of policies surrounding these areas, which conservation groups warn could weaken existing protections.
National monuments are designated by presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act, while national parks are established by Congress. Bears Ears was created by former President Obama in 2016, and Grand Staircase-Escalante was established by President Clinton in 1996.
The changes to the monuments have sparked criticism from Utah Republicans who have advocated for reduced boundaries and fewer restrictions to facilitate potential expansion of drilling, mining, and other activities. The legal implications of these boundary changes remain unresolved, as there are ongoing lawsuits regarding the authority of a president to rescind a predecessor's protections.