Trump again shrinks Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

On Monday, per Grist, President Trump signed executive orders that shrunk Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments from over three million acres to roughly three hundred thousand acres total — less than a quarter of what remained after his previous reductions in twenty seventeen. The monuments, which protect remote landscapes and archaeological sites sacred to local tribes, are now opening to mining, drilling, and grazing. The orders also dissolved the first-ever inter-tribal working group co-managing Bears Ears, a historic model for shared stewardship. Tribal leaders said they weren't consulted. Navajo Nation member Davina Smith-Idjesa, part of the monuments' stewardship coalition, said the move felt like a reminder that 'tribes are expendable,' noting that uranium mining in the region has already harmed her family's health, and that these lands are sacred — her people's 'grocery store, medicine cabinet, classroom, and church.' Environmental groups and tribes are planning court challenges, though legal experts note only Congress can rescind monuments under the Antiquities Act; presidents can only create them. Polling consistently shows Americans support protecting these public lands.

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