Trump Administration Illegally Attacks Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

President Trump has signed proclamations that once again attempt to strip protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. Today’s proclamations would illegally reduce the boundaries of the monuments for a second time. In response to the news, Earthjustice vowed to take legal action to maintain protections for these treasured landscapes.

The first Trump administration tried to strip monument protections from half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and nearly 90% of Bears Ears National Monument. Earthjustice swiftly filed suit on behalf of conservation groups, and in partnership with Tribes, challenging the administration’s illegal actions. Those lawsuits are currently stayed in district court, as President Biden restored both monuments in 2021.

The Trump administration’s attack today goes much further than the initial reduction in 2017. The proclamations reduce Bears Ears to just 8.9% of its prior size and Grand Staircase-Escalante to 9.7% of its prior size.

“President Trump’s attack on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments is just as illegal today as it was in 2017,” said Heidi McIntosh, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “The Antiquities Act authorizes presidents to designate national monuments, not to destroy them. Today’s proclamations are a slap to the face of public lands visitors across the country, as well as the local communities and Tribes that have worked for years to protect these special places. Earthjustice and our partners are prepared to vigorously defend the monuments once again.”

The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes presidents to designate national monuments, but it does not give them the power to shrink the monuments created by their predecessors or to undercut their protections. Congress’s intent was clear: the Antiquities Act must be used to protect the nation’s archaeological, cultural, and scientific wonders.

President Trump erroneously claimed today that the national monuments are off-limits for hiking, fishing, and hunting. In fact, the monuments are used for these purposes, among others, by hundreds of thousands of visitors for whom the monuments are popular and beloved.