Trump Reduces Utah National Monuments Further

President Donald Trump has once more diminished two of the nation’s disputed national monuments. This move revives longstanding conflicts over preservation, federal lands, and presidential power. On Monday, Trump signed executive orders to significantly reduce Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments located in southern Utah.

This action withdraws nearly 3 million acres from protection, exceeding the reductions Trump ordered in his initial term. Officials from the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have previously pushed to increase activities like drilling, mining, and logging on public lands while easing species protections and conservation regulations.

“They took the land from the people frankly,” Trump stated at a signing event at the White House on Monday. “We’re returning it.”

The White House offered no further comments to Newsweek. A Newsweek map shows how monument boundaries have shifted over time, contrasting the enhanced boundaries restored by former President Joe Biden with the diminished boundaries set by Trump in 2017. The recent 2026 cuts further reduce the monuments.

Trump Signs Proclamations with Utah Leadership

Trump signed the orders in the Oval Office with Utah Governor Spencer Cox alongside members of the state’s congressional delegation. Under the new directives, Bears Ears National Monument decreases from around 1.36 million acres to about 121,000 acres. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument declines from about 1.87 million acres to roughly 182,000 acres. Together, these reductions remove nearly 3 million acres from monument protection.

During the signing, Trump claimed the previous boundaries were unjust to Utah’s residents. State officials argued that the monuments exceeded the necessary size to safeguard historic and archaeological sites. This measure echoes a similar decision by Trump during his first term in 2017, where he notably reduced both monuments.

Historical Context of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was established by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It protected nearly 1.9 million acres of southern Utah known for its geological formations and paleontological finds. Two decades later, in 2016, President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears National Monument after years of advocacy from Native American tribes. These tribes stressed the area’s cultural and spiritual significance.

In 2017, Trump cut Bears Ears from about 1.35 million acres to nearly 228,000 acres and reduced Grand Staircase-Escalante to approximately 1 million acres. This action led to legal challenges from tribes and environmental groups. Biden restored both monuments to their original sizes in 2021. Trump’s latest orders, however, dramatically reduce the sizes to one-tenth of their previous protections.

Opposition Groups Prepare for Legal Battles

Environmental groups and tribal organizations quickly opposed the reductions, indicating likely future legal challenges. Earthjustice viewed these as an assault on vital cultural and natural sites. They affirmed that the monuments were established to protect Native American heritage sites, archaeological resources, and environmentally sensitive regions.

“President Trump’s attack on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments remains as unlawful today as in 2017,” stated Heidi McIntosh, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “The Antiquities Act allows presidents to designate national monuments, not dismantle them. Today’s proclamations affront public lands visitors nationwide, including local communities and Tribes that have labored to preserve these areas. Earthjustice and partners are ready to robustly defend the monuments once more.”

The Center for Biological Diversity has echoed concerns that the boundary reductions could open sizable areas to mining, drilling, and other developmental activities. The organization believes the decreased boundaries endanger wildlife habitats, cultural resources, and tribal stewardship arrangements set in recent years.

Davina Smith–Idjesa, co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and representative for the Navajo Nation, expressed: “For Diné people, this land shapes our way of life. From Navajo Mountain to Aneth, families uphold sacred practices of prayer, medicine gathering, and ceremony. Bears Ears hosts our ancestors’ footsteps and our future. This decision dishonors generations of care, weakening the unity to protect Bears Ears for all.”

Newsweek contacted Earthjustice and The Center for Biological Diversity via email for further commentary.