A presidential proclamation issued July 13, 2026, has drastically reduced the boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument, shrinking the protected area to approximately 121,09 96 acres across two units. The action seeks to realign the monument's size with the Antiquities Act requirement that designations remain confined to the smallest area compatible with protecting specific historic or scientific objects.
Bears Ears Boundary Reduction
The July 13 proclamation modifies the existing boundaries of the monument, which had previously been expanded to roughly 1.36 million acres under a 2021 presidential action. Under the new directive, the protected lands will be limited to the Shash Jáa Unit and the Indian Creek Unit.
The administration justified the reduction by stating that the previous designation, established via Proclamation 10285, relied on protecting generic landscape features—such as sandstone canyons, desert mesas, and forested mountaintops—that do not qualify as specific landmarks or structures under the Antiquities Act. The proclamation noted that many of these scenic features are common throughout the Four Corners region and the broader American West.
Existing Federal Protections
The White House asserted that the larger monument designation was unnecessary because many of the cultural and natural resources within its borders are already protected by existing federal laws. The proclamation cited the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 197 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, among others, as sufficient mechanisms for managing these assets.
Specifically, the administration pointed out that over 500,000 acres within the monument were already being managed to maintain their roadless character. This includes approximately 380,759 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as Wilderness Study Areas, and 46,348 acres within the USFS-managed Dark Canyon Wilderness Area, which is protected under the 1964 Wilderness Act and the Utah Wilderness Act of 1984.
Grand Staircase Management History
The reduction of Bears Ears follows a long history of shifting federal land designations in Utah. For example, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has undergone significant management revisions over several decades.
According to Bureau of Land Management records, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) was originally established by Presidential Proclamation 6920 on September 18, 1996. A subsequent proclamation in December 2017 modified its boundaries, leaving 1,003,863 acres within the monument, divided into the Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits, and Escalante Canyons units.
GSENM Resource Management
The BLM finalized its Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for the GSENM and the Kanab-Escalante Planning Area (KEPA) following a decision signed on February 6, 2020, by Department of the Interior Acting Assistant Secretary Casey Hammond. These plans were developed after an eight-month public outreach period.
The approved plans are designed to allow for recreational uses within the monument while protecting geological, paleontological, and natural resources. Conversely, the RMP for the KEPA—which includes 861,974 acres of land excluded from the national monument—provides for multiple uses, including mineral leasing and surface-disturbing activities, while still maintaining the protection of cultural and recreational values.
Utah Land Ownership Patterns
These shifting boundaries reflect a broader pattern of federal land ownership in the state. According to research from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, the federal government owns 64.4% of Utah's land, representing the second-highest share of federal land in the United States, trailing only Nevada.
Ownership patterns vary significantly across the state's counties. For instance, Garfield County is comprised of 90% federal land, while Morgan County consists of 93.2% private land. In Davis County, state-owned lands account for 64.3% of the total area.
Future Management Outlook
The ongoing management of Utah's federal lands remains a complex intersection of presidential authority, statutory requirements like the Antiquities Act, and long-standing environmental protections. As the boundaries of Bears Ears are officially reduced to the Shash Jáa and Indian Creek units, the administration maintains that this change ensures more efficient use of BLM and USFS management resources and funding.
