Trump slashes Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments by over 90%, opening land to mining
The Hill—Trump signed an executive order cutting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah by more than 90 percent, removing nearly three million acres of protected federal land and reversing restorations the Biden administration had made. The reductions open the freed land to mining, drilling, and other energy development — objectives backed by the Utah Republican congressional delegation. The move repeats a rollback Trump made during his first term, which Biden subsequently reversed, setting up likely renewed legal challenges from environmental groups and tribal nations whose sacred sites fall within Bears Ears. Courts struck down similar actions during Trump's first term, and litigation is expected to resume.
- The Hill — Utah's Republican congressional delegation backed the monument reductions as part of a broader land-use overhaul
- The Straits Times — Trump slashes two Utah protected areas by more than 90%
- The Independent (UK) — Trump again shrinks two national monuments reducing their size by another million acres each
- Washington Times — Trump slashes 3 million acres from Utah monuments
- ABC News — Money — Trump reduces size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management
- Associated Press — What to know about Trump’s order shrinking the size of 2 national monuments in Utah.
- Associated Press — Trump reduces size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management.
- Fox News — Trump to shrink 2 Utah national monuments by 90%
- Straight Arrow News — Monument boundary cuts explicitly designed to open the freed land for mining and energy development
- Salt Lake Tribune — President Trump drastically shrinks 2 Utah national monuments — again
- NOTUS — Each monument — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — reduced by more than 90% individually
- Washington Post — The cuts reverse Biden's 2021 restorations of monument boundaries Trump had already shrunk in his first term
- Axios — Trump's order cuts nearly 3 million acres combined from the two Utah national monuments
- PBS NewsHour — Federal protections lifted on vast Utah canyon lands that had been restored under the Biden administration
- Reuters — Trump signed the order shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — the two largest Utah monuments