The Trump administration is looking at scaling back protections for two national monuments in southern Utah, The Washington Post reported Thursday morning, according to “two people familiar with the matter and an internal Interior Department document.”
After declaring a national energy emergency earlier this year, President Donald Trump is looking to roll back federal protections to promote energy development.
The Trump administration is looking at scaling back protections for two national monuments in southern Utah, The Washington Post reported Thursday morning, according to “two people familiar with the matter and an internal Interior Department document.”
President Donald Trump shrunk Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments during his first term, citing local opposition to the designations. He cut Grand Staircase-Escalante’s acreage by half and slashed Bears Ears’ size by 85%, though President Joe Biden reversed the reductions in 2021.
Now, Trump is considering revising the monuments’ boundaries again to promote energy and mineral development. He declared a “national energy emergency” earlier this year.
“These spectacular landscapes and national public lands have long been under attack by short-sighted Utah politicians, who have egged on President Trump and again brought uncertainty and chaos to places that should instead be protected for their rich biodiversity, unique geology, and remarkable cultural values‚” said Steve Bloch, legal director for the environmental nonprofit Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, in response to The Post’s reporting.
The Trump administration’s consideration of reductions follow a review of “withdrawn public lands,” which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum quietly ordered on Feb. 3. That review also aligned with Project 2025, a plan for President Donald Trump’s second term published by The Heritage Foundation, which calls for repealing the Antiquities Act of 1906.
The Antiquities Act enables presidents to designate national monuments, which protect “objects of historic or scientific interest.” President Bill Clinton used that authority to create Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, as did President Barack Obama when he established Bears Ears National Monument in 2016.
Utah leaders have long opposed the use of the Antiquities Act, arguing that sweeping land protections should have to earn approval in Congress, not just the president.
“Rather than take the opportunity to build unity in a divided region and bring resources and lasting protections to sacred antiquities by seeking a mutually beneficial and permanent legislative solution, President Biden fanned the flames of controversy and ignored input from the communities closest to these monuments,” Utah’s congressional delegation said when Biden expanded Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante following Trump’s reductions.
The Post reported that the Interior Department is analyzing mineral and oil deposits not only in Utah’s protected areas, but also in national monuments located in Arizona, California and New Mexico, to determine potential boundary revisions.
Grand Staircase-Escalante in southern Utah spans paleontological sites, unique geology and cultural history of both Indigenous peoples and Latter-day Saint pioneers. It is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.
Bears Ears was the first national monument created at the request of Native American tribes — the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Ute Indian Tribe — who all consider the landscape sacred. The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and a commission of tribal members jointly manage the monument.
A January poll found that 71% of Utah voters support Bears Ears National Monument and 74% support Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The survey also concluded that 75% of respondents support the president’s ability to designate national monuments using the Antiquities Act.
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