Trump reduces the size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management

By — Matthew Brown, Associated Press Matthew Brown, Associated Press By — Savannah Peters, Associated Press Savannah Peters, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-reduces-the-size-of-2-national-monuments-in-utah-as-republicans-reshape-land-management Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump reduces the size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management Nation Jul 13, 2026 6:28 PM EDT President Donald Trump on Monday reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah, undoing protections established by former presidents on public lands that are sacred among many Native Americans. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Trump, a Republican, issued proclamations under the Antiquities Act to reduce their size. He took similar actions during his first term, but those were reversed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat. The latest move comes as Trump and other Republicans have drastically reshaped the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have sought to expand drilling, mining and logging on public lands, while removing protections for imperiled species and rolling back rules for conservation. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, and President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, created Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 under the Antiquities Act. The 1906 law gives presidents the powers to protect sites considered historic, archaeologically significant or culturally important. Davina Smith-Idjesa, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said tribal leaders had braced for a reduction since Trump was elected to a second term. She said Monday it was "heartbreaking" and accused federal officials of sidestepping their legal responsibility to consult with tribal nations that would be impacted. "From a Navajo perspective, Bears Ears is not simply a piece of federal public land," Smith-Idjesa said. "This is a living cultural site that holds our histories, our ceremonies, our traditional foods and medicines and our ancestors' footprints." Utah officials have long fought against the monument designation and have argued that the state should be in charge of controlling its own lands. Trump in his first term reduced their size, calling their creation a "massive land grab." Combined they span more than 3.2 million acres (13 million hectares), an area nearly the size of Connecticut. "This is a big day for Utah," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said