President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Monday aimed at shrinking the Bears Ears and Grand National Monument in Utah, according to a July 10 statement from the Center for Western Priorities. The move marks a second attempt by the Trump administration to reduce the acreage of these two protected areas.
History of Monument Reductions
The proposed executive order would roll back protections for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. This follows a 2017 administration effort where President Trump issued proclamations that slashed the Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and reduced Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half.
Under those 2017 orders, Bears Ears was reduced from 1.35 million acres to approximately 228,000 acres, while Grand Staircase-Escalante was cut from 1.87 million acres to about 1 million acres. These changes represented the largest rollback of public lands protections in American history. While legal challenges from Tribes, businesses, and conservation groups were put on hold in early 2021, those lawsuits remain pending in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Legal and Administrative Challenges
The Center for Western Priorities argued that the plan to shrink the monuments is illegal and ignores the intent of the Antiquities Act. Executive Director Aaron Weiss stated that the law remains a "one-way statute," noting that Congress recently declined an opportunity last month to weaken the management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Weiss further criticized the administration's direction, suggesting that President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum should heed public sentiment. "The American people have made it clear over and over again that they want our national monuments protected, not sold out to drilling and mining companies," Weiss said in a press release.
Public Support and Polling
Public opinion data suggests significant opposition to the proposed reductions within Utah. A 2024 poll conducted for the Grand Canyon Trust found that 71 percent of Utah voters support maintaining Bears Ears as a national monument, while 7/4 percent support keeping Grand Staircase-Escalante.
This sentiment extends across party lines in the state, with majorities of Republicans supporting the protections. Additionally, three-quarters of Utah voters expressed support for the authority of presidents to protect public lands through national monument designations.
Regional Conservation Trends
The debate over these lands reflects a broader regional trend in conservation attitudes. According to the 2025 Conservation in the West poll by Colorado College, 89 percent of voters across the West believe that national monument designations made during the last decade should be preserved.
This regional consensus includes 83 percent of Republicans. These figures contrast with the 2017 public comment period, where the administration received 2.8 million comments, 98 percent of which were in favor of keeping the national monuments in their original state.
Timeline of Designations
The current dispute follows a period of restoration under the previous administration. President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 at the request of five sovereign Tribal nations, and President Bill Clinton originally designated Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996.
In October 2021, President Joe Biden moved to restore both monuments to their previous status. The upcoming executive order seeks to reverse those restorations.
