President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Monday afternoon reducing the size of southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments by about 90% each.
The two orders collectively reduce the monuments by nearly three million acres, including about 1.69 million acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and about 1.24 million acres from Bears Ears National Monument.
Trump signed the executive orders by exercising his interpretation of authority under the Antiquities Act, which allows the president to reserve federal lands for the protection of historic or scientific objects.
The Antiquities Act also requires monuments to be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management. In his two orders, Trump stated that the Antiquities Act “permits the President to remove land from the monument and return it to its prior federally managed status” if the land is no longer deserving of the Act’s protections.
Trump previously exercised what his administration argued was authority under the Antiquities Act when he issued Proclamations 9681 and 9682 in 2017, removing approximately 1.15 million acres from Bears Ears and 860,000 acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante.
The legality of those actions was challenged in federal court, with various groups arguing that the President exceeded his authority under the Antiquities Act. However, the lawsuits became moot after President Biden restored the monuments' boundaries in 2021.
Under Proclamations 10285 and 10286, Biden restored Bears Ears National Monument to approximately 1.36 million acres and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to approximately 1.87 million acres.
Nearly five years later, Trump again moved to reduce the size of both monuments. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders reducing Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to approximately 181,500 acres and Bears Ears National Monument to approximately 121,100 acres.
The executive orders argue that Biden’s proclamations disregarded the Antiquities Act requirement “that any parcel of land reserved as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”
Trump and other Utah officials said reducing the size of both monuments would uphold that requirement. During the executive order signing, Utah Sen. Mike Lee reiterated that argument.
“Smallest area compatible with the objects to be protected. That’s always been the standard under the Antiquities Act,” Lee said. “President Biden, President Clinton and President Obama overlooked that standard, and President Trump is fixing it today.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox expressed similar sentiments.
“This matters to Utah. We believe that under the Antiquities Act, it’s very clear that these monument designations are supposed to be the smallest areas possible to protect the antiquities,” he said. “These multi-million-acre monuments that are bigger than the state of Delaware certainly do not fit that designation.”
In the executive orders, Trump also stated that revising the boundaries will “better align the use of these public lands with the public interest.”
Rep. Celeste Maloy, who is running to represent the district containing these monuments, said she believes the executive orders reflect the wishes of many of her constituents.
“We’re standing here with the governor, the Speaker of the Utah House and the entire Utah federal delegation supporting a president listening to the people of Utah and saying, ‘We know you value this land. You want it used for multiple uses and not locked up,’” Maloy said.
The executive orders state that the land will become available for “multiple uses that are consistent with the care and management of those objects.” Multiple-use land, Maloy said, is land that can be used for recreation, timbering, grazing and other activities.
“When it’s multiple-use land, it’s still covered by about a dozen laws that make sure that they’re making good management decisions and no resources are being harmed,” she said.
The executive orders also mentioned that the natural resources and minerals within these monuments — such as silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, uranium, vanadium and zinc — could help the U.S. become less reliant on “foreign sources for these resources.”
Many Utahns and organizations have spoken out against the executive orders.
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting and preserving the national monument, criticized the decision in a statement. Jacqualine Grant, executive director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, stated that these executive orders should concern all Americans.
“Grand Staircase Escalante Partners denounces today’s action because it disregards the voices of the American people and further opens the door to extraction and privatization of public lands,” Grant said. “Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a national treasure that should not be dismembered for profit.”
The organization said reducing Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments by 90% each threatens the “future of these historically, scientifically, tribally and economically important sites.”
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance also released a statement criticizing the executive orders, stating that the actions were “reckless and unlawful.” Executive Director Scott Braden stated that the organization plans to take legal action.
“The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is committed to defending the monuments and will challenge this unlawful decision in federal court,” Braden said. “We are confident that President Trump’s reckless and unlawful acts will be rejected and the Monuments restored.”
Trump's executive order also terminates the Bears Ears Commission, which includes representatives from five Tribal Nations.
Despite the reduction, the five Tribal Nations said they remain committed to protecting Bears Ears and the enduring relationship between Indigenous peoples and the landscape.
The legal actions being taken by several organizations are not a surprise to Rep. Maloy.
“I’m sure we’ll see lawsuits. There will probably be a flurry of activity,” Maloy said. “But when the president changes the monument boundary, it’s changed. That’ll stay in place unless something else comes along to change it.”
Lands removed from monument status will remain under federal ownership and continue to be managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management. Under the executive orders, those lands may become available for mineral entry and mining claims 60 days after the proclamation date.