News media outlets have reported that President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as soon as Monday, July 13, aimed at dismantling the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
In response to these reports, the Sierra Club has issued statements criticizing the potential move as a prioritization of extractive industries over public lands.
Loren Blackford, the Executive Director of Sierra Club, stated that if the reports are accurate, the action would favor corporate polluters and extractive industries over irreplaceable landscapes. Blackford noted that these monuments protect sacred Tribal sites, wildlife habitats, and significant cultural and scientific resources.
Blackford further asserted that the move would ignore public support for land protection and threatened to fight any attempt to remove protections from these landscapes to ensure they remain protected for future generations.
Franque Bains, Director of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, remarked that for Utahns, these monuments are living landscapes that sustain wildlife and local economies. Bains criticized Senator Mike Lee and Utah’s congressional delegation for championing attacks on the national monuments, stating such attempts disregard the work of Tribal Nations, scientists, and local communities.
The Sierra Club maintains that any attempt to dismantle these monuments disregards years of conservation efforts. The organization stated that Utah’s public lands deserve lasting protections reflecting their ecological and cultural value.
