Tenth Circuit Kicks Utah National Monuments Suit Back to District Court

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed a district court decision that found courts are barred by sovereign immunity from reviewing presidential proclamations under the Antiquities Act. The decision is in keeping with longstanding case law establishing that courts may review monument designations, albeit under a deferential standard. The court also rejected arguments from monument foes, who were hoping to fast track the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, that the Tenth Circuit should pass judgment on the validity of the monuments themselves, even though the issue was not before the court.

The lawsuit from the state of Utah, which attacks Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, and the Antiquities Act itself, will now be remanded to district court for review under the correct standard. The monuments remain fully valid and protected and will continue to be while the case proceeds.

Utah filed suit over President Biden’s restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in 2022. President Biden used the Antiquities Act to restore the monuments after the Trump administration unlawfully slashed Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase by half in 2017. Conservation groups and Tribes intervened in defense of President Biden’s monument restorations.

“Court after court has affirmed the president’s authority under the Antiquities Act to create monuments on federal lands,” said Heidi McIntosh, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “This bedrock law has helped to protect lands and waters that, in some cases, became beloved national parks like the Grand Canyon, Olympic, Zion, and Grand Teton. Despite the popularity of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, the state of Utah has continued to attack these lands and the people who have stewarded them since time immemorial by seeking to open them up to oil and gas drilling, mining, and other destructive uses. We will vigorously defend our monuments and the Antiquities Act in court to ensure these treasured places remain intact for current and future generations.”