This majestic landscape you see here?
If President Trump gets his way, it could be marred by mining and drilling.
On Dec. 4, Trump announced that he’s gutting Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument—home to ancient cliff dwellings, Native American cultural sites, and iconic wildlife—by 85 percent. This move is part of the largest rollback of federal land protection in U.S. history. It disregards both our national heritage and the law.
Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit to put a stop to this. We are representing a coalition of conservation groups in the suit: The Wilderness Society, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Trust, Defenders of Wildlife, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The Natural Resources Defense Council and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance are co-plaintiffs in the case, represented by counsel from those organizations.
President Obama designated the Bears Ears National Monument after years of advocacy from a historic partnership between the Hopi, Navajo, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute and Zuni governments, along with archeological, conservation and recreation voices.
The monument designation included a historic plan for co-management of this unique landscape by federal agencies and the five tribes with sacred cultural interests in the lands.
But now Trump’s move would unravel protections for this unique area, leaving it vulnerable to oil and uranium interests and looters who rob sacred sites.
Grand Gulch is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate. Grand Gulch is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.These mesas, cliffs and canyons in Utah are home to over 100,000 Native American archaeological and cultural sites, with some dating back to 12,000 B.C.E. Tribes continue to visit these lands to hold ceremonies and to connect with their ancestors.
Bears, bighorn sheep and mountain lions thrive in this striking wilderness. Two buttes jutting thousands of feet above canyon lands form the region’s namesake, “Bears Ears.”
To safeguard Bears Ears, President Obama used the Antiquities Act, a century-old law established to protect America’s iconic lands and cultural heritage.
Valley of the Gods is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate. Valley of the Gods is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.The Antiquities Act has been embraced by 16 presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to President Obama to protect national treasures such as the Grand Canyon, the Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the Giant Sequoia National Monument in Northern California and the Statue of Liberty.
Presidents do not have the legal authority to undo monument protections under the Antiquities Act. The Constitution reserves for Congress the right to decide what happens on federal land. Though the Antiquities Act grants presidents the power to designate national monuments, it says nothing about abolishing them.
Citadel Ruins, Cedar Mesa is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.
Cedar Mesa is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.
Moki Dugway is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.
Moki Dugway is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.
Dark Canyon Wilderness is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.
Grand Gulch is among the more than one million acres of wildlands and rare archaelogical sites that the presidential proclamation is attempting to eviscerate.In 1938 when President Franklin Roosevelt considered removing the national monument status of crumbling Castle Pinckney, his attorney general advised him that it would be illegal.
But Trump has chosen to risk breaking the law to benefit industry.
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