Trump signed two executive orders Monday shrinking Bears Ears National Monument from 1.36 million acres to 121,000 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante from 1.87 million acres to 181,500 acres — cuts of about 91% and 90%. Democratic presidents created both monuments — Clinton in 1996, Obama in 2016 — before Trump shrank them in 2017 and Biden restored them in 2021. This time the cuts are even deeper. The land removed from monument designation is now eligible for new mining claims, oil and gas leasing, coal exploration, and uranium extraction. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, all six members of Utah's congressional delegation, and state House Speaker Mike Schultz attended the signing.

1. The Tribes Call This a Betrayal (Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Grand Staircase Inter-Tribal Coalition)

Tribes say they weren't told before the announcement, and that sacred sites they still actively use are now at risk.

Nobody told the tribes this was coming. The administration didn't tell either the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition or the Grand Staircase coalition before the announcement. Autumn Gillard, a Southern Paiute and coordinator of the Grand Staircase coalition, said: "Our Tribes were not informed of or asked about this decision, and that's unacceptable. The federal government must honor its Trust and Treaty obligations to our Tribes — it is not optional."

Tribal nations still use these sites for ceremony and gathering. Bears Ears is sacred to five tribal nations (Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Zuni Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute, and Uintah-Ouray Ute) and holds more than 100,000 archaeological sites. Davina Smith-Idjesa, Navajo Nation co-chair of the Bears Ears coalition, called the decision "heartbreaking" and said it "dishonors generations of care." Hopi leader Georgie Pongyesva said: "Many assume that cultural sites have been abandoned, or refer to them as 'ruins'" — they're not.

Two years of collaborative planning are now gone. The federal government finalized Bears Ears' management plan in January 2025 after a two-year public process with thousands of comments and extensive tribal participation. That plan is now discarded. Tribes weren't consulted before the administration made the cuts.

2. Utah Says It's Long Overdue (Gov. Spencer Cox, Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Delegation)

Utah Republicans argue that million-acre monument designations were never legal under the Antiquities Act's own "smallest area compatible" standard.

The monuments were always too big. Gov. Cox said monument designations are "supposed to be the smallest area possible to protect the antiquities" and that multimillion-acre designations "certainly do not fit that designation." He added: "There are no resources that come with those." Trump said at the ceremony: "It was very unfair to the people of Utah, and now fairness has been brought back."

Planning started right after Trump won. Sen. Mike Lee said the reduction had been in the works for "over a year" following Trump's reelection, with "meetings with local stakeholders." The entire Utah congressional delegation and state legislative leadership attended the signing.

Removing the designation lifts the uranium and mining bans. The Bears Ears proclamation specifically cites copper and uranium as critical minerals tied to Trump's declared national energy emergency. Monument designation had prohibited new mining claims, oil and gas leasing, coal exploration, and commercial infrastructure — those restrictions are now gone for the removed acreage.

3. The Lawsuits Are Already Coming (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Earthjustice, Center for Biological Diversity)

Conservation groups say the Antiquities Act lets presidents create monuments but not shrink them — and a June 2026 ruling says federal courts can now weigh in.

No court has ever decided if shrinking a monument is legal. After Trump's 2017 cuts, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and conservation partners filed legal challenges. Biden reversed the monuments in 2021 before courts could rule — so the question has never been settled.

A June 2026 ruling says federal courts can now review this. In June 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed a lower court dismissal and ruled that federal courts can review whether presidents exceeded their Antiquities Act authority. The court didn't reduce any monuments — it said judges now have jurisdiction to check whether a president stayed within the law's limits. Legal scholars have long argued the Act's text gives presidents the power to create monuments but reserves the power to reduce or revoke them to Congress.

The lawsuits are coming. SUWA pledged to challenge the July 2026 reductions in federal court. Earthjustice said it "remains prepared to vigorously defend all national monuments." The Center for Biological Diversity's Taylor McKinnon said the action reflects "Trump's extreme disdain for the public lands we all own." A 106,000-acre wildfire is currently burning inside Bears Ears — the largest active wildfire in the country — and critics say removing protections in the middle of it only makes things worse.

Where This Lands

The five tribal nations with sacred sites inside Bears Ears say the federal government violated its trust and treaty obligations — and discarded two years of collaborative planning without a single notification. Utah Republicans say the Antiquities Act's "smallest area compatible" language was always meant to prevent million-acre designations like these, and Monday's ceremony was their vindication. Conservation groups say no president has ever had the statutory authority to shrink a monument, and a 10th Circuit ruling from last month gives federal courts jurisdiction to hear that challenge.

Sources