Earthjustice is suing the Trump administration over a plan to shrink Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments by nearly 3 million acres, according to a September 2 statement.
In July, the administration announced an attempt to reduce both monuments to less than 10% of their current size. The move is intended to enable activities such as mining and drilling on the public lands.
The administration signed proclamations that would reduce Bears Ears to 8.9% of its prior size and Grand Staircase-Escalante to 9.7% of its prior size. The total reduction is estimated at nearly 3 million acres.
Earthjustice and other conservation groups have moved to reactivate an original 2017 case to challenge these latest attempts to shrink the monuments. The organization stated that the administration's actions are part of a broader plan to open public lands for industrial development, including logging in federal forests and oil drilling in oceans.
The monuments contain significant cultural heritage, including burial sites and petroglyphs stewarded by tribal nations. They also support diverse ecosystems and recreational activities like hiking and fishing.
While the administration seeks to open the land for resource extraction, Earthjustice is working to defend the protections provided by the Antiquities Act of 1906, which they argue does not grant presidents the power to shrink monuments created by their predecessors.
