All articles tagged with #grand staircase escalante
President Trump signed an executive order that reduces Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears monuments in Utah by about 90% (from roughly 3 million acres to 300,000), aiming to open land to energy development. Utah Governor Spencer Cox praised the move as aligning with the Antiquities Act, while Native groups criticized it for erasing cultural sites. The sites were designated as monuments by Clinton in 1996 and Obama in 2016.
President Trump signed two executive orders to reduce nearly 3 million acres of protected land in Utah—1.69 million acres from Grand Staircase-Escalante and 1.24 million from Bears Ears—drawing criticism from environmental groups who label the move illegal and pledging legal challenges, while Utah officials praise the decision. The reductions come after Obama had restored Bears Ears and re-expanded Grand Staircase-Escalante, and legal questions linger about whether the Antiquities Act allows shrinking monuments.