Trump reduces Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by approximately 90%

Jul 13, 2026

On July 13, 2026, President Donald Trump signed executive orders reducing Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by approximately 90%, shrinking their combined area from over 3.2 million acres to under 303,000 acres. While Utah Republicans and Governor Spencer Cox celebrated the decision to open lands for potential mining and development, tribal leaders like Davina Smith-Idjesa condemned the cuts to sacred ancestral sites. The move is expected to trigger major legal battles over presidential authority under the Antiquities Act.

Monument size reductions

▪In 2017, President Donald Trump reduced Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half, which President Joe Biden restored in 2021.
▪On July 13, 2026, President Donald Trump signed executive orders reducing the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah by approximately 90%.
▪The executive orders signed on July 13, 2026, reduced the combined size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments from over 3.2 million acres to less than 303,000 acres.
▪Under the July 13, 2026 orders, Grand Staircase-Escalante was reduced by nearly 1.7 million acres, and Bears Ears was reduced from 1.36 million acres to about 121,000 acres.

Tribal sacred site protections

▪Bears Ears National Monument was established in 2016 at the request of five tribal nations—the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, and Uintah-Ouray Ute.
▪Davina Smith-Idjesa of the Navajo Nation criticized the monument reductions as heartbreaking and accused federal officials of failing to consult with impacted tribal nations.

Utah resource development push

▪The state of Utah filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging President Joe Biden's restoration of the monuments, which an appeals court revived in June 2026.
▪Utah officials and Republicans opposed the monument designations, arguing they hinder economic development, grazing, and mining for coal, uranium, and critical minerals.

Trump public lands policy

▪The monument reductions align with a broader effort by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to expand drilling, mining, and logging on Western public lands.
▪President Donald Trump used executive proclamations to lift commercial fishing prohibitions within marine monuments in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Antiquities Act presidential powers

▪The monument reductions are expected to revive legal disputes from a 2017 lawsuit over whether a president has unilateral authority to shrink monument protections.
▪National monuments are established by presidential proclamation under the 1906 Antiquities Act, whereas national parks are created by Congress.