President Trump slashes Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments by over 90%

On July 13‑14, 2024, President Donald Trump signed executive orders that reduced the size of two southern Utah national monuments. Bears Ears was cut from about 1.36 million acres to roughly 121,100 acres, and Grand Staircase‑Escalante from about 1.87 million acres to roughly 181,500 acres, a combined reduction of more than 90 % of each monument. The proclamations keep only a handful of units within each monument and dissolve the Bears Ears Commission that had co‑managed the site with tribal representatives.

The actions sparked immediate condemnation from Native American tribes, including the Ute Mountain Ute, and from Colorado and Utah congressional leaders, who called the cuts an attack on public lands and cultural heritage. Legal challenges are expected, and the reductions coincide with the ongoing Babylon Fire burning within Bears Ears. The moves revive a longstanding legal debate over whether a president can shrink a monument created under the Antiquities Act, with potential nationwide implications for protected lands.