The move also defies Intertribal collaborative management at Bears Ears and an Intertribal shared stewardship framework at Grand Staircase-Escalante
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Washington, D.C.) — Today, President Trump attempted to virtually eliminate Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, cutting their boundaries by, combined, almost three million acres. This is a major escalation of unlawful actions taken in his first administration in 2017, when he attempted to cut boundaries for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 87% and 45%, respectively. Protections for both monuments were restored by President Biden in 2021.
Today’s action threatens our public lands and public access by paving the way for new mining and exploitation by corporate polluters in some of our most beloved natural and cultural landscapes. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are a part of a larger cultural landscape — an interconnected Indigenous homeland that has been stewarded by Native Americans since time immemorial.
This is a major escalation of his actions from nine years ago. The proclamations today virtually abolish the two monuments. President Trump’s unlawful and unprecedented 2017 actions were immediately challenged by Tribes and conservation and outdoor business groups in federal court, and those lawsuits are still pending.
Dishonoring the sovereignty of Native Nations and the federal government’s duty of Tribal consultation, President Trump’s actions today also defied a landmark Tribal co-stewardship framework for Grand Staircase-Escalante and historic federal and intertribal collaborative management authority for Bears Ears.
The cuts occur as the 106,000 acre Babylon Fire burning inside Bears Ears became the largest wildfire in the nation.
Today’s attempt to eviscerate the monuments comes in stark opposition to the wishes of Western voters and the public at large. Polling of voters in seven Western states found that support for keeping existing national monument designations in place has increased from 88 percent in 2025 to 91 percent in 2026. Additional polling found that Utah voters support keeping Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante as national monuments by 71 and 74 percent, respectively.
Polling also found that 89 percent of Utah voters agree it is important that Native American Tribes have a strong role in managing their ancestral lands, and 4 in 5 voters say they favor keeping the cooperative management agreement between Tribes and public land managers in place for Bears Ears.
Local, regional, and national groups that support the protection of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments issued the following statements.
Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition – Davina Smith–Idjesa, Co-Chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Representative for the Navajo Nation
“For Diné people, this land shapes our way of life. In Diné communities from Navajo Mountain to Aneth, families continue sacred traditions of prayer, harvest medicine gathering, and ceremony. Bears Ears (Shash Jaa’) holds our ancestors’ footsteps and our children’s future. This decision dishonors generations of care and weakens the unity we’ve built to safeguard Bears Ears for everyone.”
Grand Staircase Inter-Tribal Coalition – Autumn Gillard, Coordinator of the Grand Staircase Inter-Tribal Coalition and Representative for the Southern Paiute
“Our Tribes were not informed of or asked about this decision, and that’s unacceptable. The federal government must honor its Trust and Treaty obligations to our Tribes — it is not optional. Today’s action is a direct strike against the federal government’s duty to consult with Tribes. It also profoundly disrespects our intergenerational Traditional Knowledge by destroying a framework for Tribal co-stewardship over our ancestral lands in which we invested years of effort. Today’s action cannot stand.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument holds thousands of years of Southern Paiute cultural history as well as ancestral history and ties for our relative tribes. It is through our strong connection to the land that we can maintain our spiritual and religious beliefs and practices. Areas like Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are known for their deep cultural connection to Nuwu holistic conservation traditions. In Southern Paiute teachings, we are taught from infancy that we are the stewards of these lands, which must be protected and preserved for future generations.”
Utah Diné Bikéyah – Mark Maryboy, Founder and Board Member Emeritus
“On behalf of Utah Diné Bikéyah we are reaching out to every Tribe and non-profit to stand together to provide protection for the earth not only at Bears Ears, but on public land throughout the world. In 2017, President Trump acted illegally in reducing National Monument protections and tried to divide our five Tribes by renaming “Bear Ears” to the Navajo-only name; “Shash Jaa.” Just like today, this is both illegal and an attempt to anger and divide us across Tribal Nations. We know the history of Bears Ears where we as Native Americans have been separated and murdered for 250 years, and we will not fall into this trap again.”
A’Nuche – Deena Ute, Executive Director
“As Americans, we need to recognize how much the Earth means to all of us. The reality is Bears Ears is for everyone. It is protected to benefit us all regardless of the color of our skin, or who we are. The current administration is not thinking of us as Americans, only of themselves. But how much more will they tear the veins open of our mother earth to extract money? And will they ever be satisfied? These lands are our ancestors, our home, our foods, our medicines, and our places of worship and should be held in trust as a national monument.”
Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners – Jacqualine Grant, Executive Director
“Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a landscape cherished by Americans across the political spectrum. Every reduction to the Monument chips away at the scientific, cultural, and economic values it provides to our local, state, and national economies. The continued back and forth over the Monuments wastes taxpayer dollars, wastes time and energy, and increases division within communities that should be banding together in defense of America’s public lands. As the official Friends Group of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, we will continue to ‘Step up for the Staircase’ in every way that we can.”
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance – Scott Braden, Executive Director
“Today’s action makes it clear that Utah is the epicenter of Republican efforts to dismantle and obliterate America’s system of public lands. President Trump’s outrageous attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monument was taken at the urging of Utah politicians – Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis, Governor Spencer Cox, and the others – who championed this action. These two landscapes deserve to be protected for current and future generations of Utahns and Americans, not opened to exploitation. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is committed to defending the monuments and will challenge this unlawful decision in federal court. We are confident that President Trump’s reckless and unlawful acts will be rejected and the Monuments restored.”
Grand Canyon Trust – Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director
“The debasement of these revered national monuments is deeply unpopular in Utah and around the world, and it shows contempt for the Native nations that have worked tirelessly to protect these irreplaceable cultural landscapes. Utah voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support keeping these monuments intact. Polling shows that 89% of Utah voters also said that Tribes should have a say over how their ancestral lands that are now called public lands are managed. The current administration should have respected Tribes by keeping the historic collaborative management agreement for Bears Ears and the Tribal co-stewardship framework for Grand Staircase in place.”
Archaeology Southwest – Stephen E. Nash, President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest “Archaeology Southwest has advocated alongside peer organizations and Tribal Nations for many years to protect the cultural landscapes embodied by the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Both monuments are home to thousands of archaeological sites that Tribal Nations regard as sacred places they maintain relationships with. In addition, both monuments are co-stewarded by two Inter-Tribal Coalitions. This demonstrates the importance of these two landscapes to Indigenous Peoples today.
“Any changes to the boundaries of these monuments are a direct attack on these sovereign Tribal Nations and their rights to manage their Ancestral homelands in perpetuity, as well as on our collective heritage as Americans. Archaeological resources are fragile—and once they are destroyed, their recovery is next to impossible. Archaeology Southwest adamantly opposes modifications that disrespect and dishonor the intentions, meanings, and realities of these and any other national monuments.”
Center for Biological Diversity – Taylor McKinnon, Southwest Director
“Gutting Utah’s national monuments to enrich polluting extractive corporations shows Trump’s extreme disdain for Americans’ shared natural heritage. It’s a national embarrassment. These monuments protect some of America’s most iconic landscapes and rich biodiversity. We’ll fight like hell to safeguard their future.”
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks – Cheryl Schreier, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
“This executive order is another assault on our National Parks, public lands and national monuments. Let’s be clear, this executive order is not conservation. It is nothing more than a giveaway to mining, drilling, and other special interests at the expense of every American who owns these lands.
Our national monuments belong to all Americans and preserve irreplaceable cultural sites, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation opportunities for generations to come. Shrinking these monuments will reduce access for hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, and countless other outdoor traditions while putting critical wildlife habitat at risk, including more than 1.2 million acres of big-game migration corridors.
Local communities also stand to lose, as gateway economies depend on healthy public lands that support tourism and help local economies.
The American people have rejected this approach before, and they reject it today. In 2017, nearly three million Americans spoke out after the administration dramatically reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.
We urge the administration to abandon this misguided effort and instead honor its responsibility to protect these irreplaceable places for future generations.”
Conservation Lands Foundation – Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer
“It’s the President’s job to ensure the protection and preservation of all of America’s natural resources for future generations. The President today failed to do his duty and in turn, failed the American people. Reducing Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments’ designations is both a desecration of public lands and a dereliction of duty. It’s also illegal and wildly unpopular with Americans from all political identities and walks of life. Eliminating these monuments takes public lands out of public hands and puts them into the pockets of the wealthy and extractive corporations. We categorically oppose today’s action to strip National Monument protections, the next step in a series of steps this administration has taken to sell off public lands. The president has just reawakened a broad base of communities who will vigilantly oppose this.
Defenders of Wildlife – Vera Smith, National Forests and Public Lands Program Director
“The Bears Ears and Grand Staircase landscapes are like no other and are irreplaceable. These National Monuments that are so important to Indigenous people and wildlife, such as the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher and Mexican spotted owl, deserve the highest levels of protection for perpetuity. Instead, the Trump administration is disrespectfully and recklessly dismantling them for corporate exploitation.”
Earthjustice – Heidi McIntosh, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office
“National monuments belong to all of us, including the local communities and Tribes that have worked for years to protect them and honor this country’s natural and cultural heritage. The Trump administration is once again looking to give away our national public lands to industry, putting at risk the invaluable places we know and love. The previous Trump administration tried this once and we promptly sued. We remain prepared to vigorously defend all national monuments that Trump may attempt to dismantle.”
EcoFlight – Jane Pargiter, Executive Director
“The aerial perspective EcoFlight provides over Utah’s canyons, mountains, and mesas shows the interconnectedness of some of the West’s most iconic national monuments including Bears Ears, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, Vermilion Cliffs, and Grand Staircase-Escalante to neighboring Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon. Landscape-scale protections are critical in a disrupted climate to protect our cultural sites and flora and fauna. President Trump’s second attempt at rolling back national monument protections is criminally negligent and disregards the voices of Utahns, Native peoples, and the American public who own these lands.”
Great Old Broads for Wilderness – Reba Elliott, Executive Director
“Unlawfully shrinking the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments shows a shameful contempt for the overwhelming majority of Utah voters who strongly support keeping them intact and for the Tribal Nations that have worked tirelessly with federal officials to create the Bears Ears National Monument management plan. As older women, we learned to tell right from wrong a long time ago, and we won’t stop fighting until this wrong is made right. Great Old Broads for Wilderness is proud to stand with our partners in the fight to keep these irreplaceable national monuments intact and permanently protected for future generations.”
The Mountain Pact – Anna Peterson, Executive Director
“President Trump’s shameful actions on Grand Staircase-Esclante and Bears Ears national monuments is a direct assault on our shared outdoor heritage and an unpatriotic attack against our nation’s greatest treasure – our public lands. National monuments are critical economic drivers that create thousands of good-paying jobs, supply our communities with clean water, and are home to priceless cultural and natural treasures that are key to our Western way of life. We are horrified at these cruel, reckless actions that are putting some of our most precious natural spaces and resources. We urge President Trump to listen to the more than 85 percent of western voters who support national monuments and abandon this needless attack on our public lands.”
National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) – Alex Johnson, Southwest Regional Director
“No president has the authority to erase or shrink a national monument. This attack from the administration shows a blatant disregard for the Tribes, local communities, and park advocates across the country who chose to protect Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in perpetuity. Led by the Tribal Nations who have stewarded these landscapes for countless generations, the public support for these monuments has never wavered and this order is a direct threat to over a hundred thousand sacred and ancestral cultural sites protected within these monuments.”
National Wildlife Federation – Garrit Voggesser, Senior Director of Tribal Partnerships and Policy
“Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are extremely important for Indigenous ceremonies, traditions, and subsistence, while providing invaluable wildlife habitat, abundant recreation opportunities, and the fuel for rural economies. Stripping national monument protections not only threatens co-stewardship partnerships with Indigenous communities that are the first stewards of these ancestral lands, but also undermines protecting the very lands, waters, and communities that countless people have fought to preserve. These actions are yet another strike at Tribal sovereignty and undermine years of collaboration among Indigenous leaders, ranchers, hunters, anglers, local business owners, and conservationists.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) – Bobby McEnaney, Director, Land Conservation
“This is a reckless and disrespectful attack on some of America’s most cherished public lands. The administration is attempting to unravel years of public support, scientific consensus, and collaborative stewardship. Gutting protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante isn’t just illegal—it’s immoral. We won’t stand by and allow this unprecedented attack on America’s shared history, common values, and natural and cultural heritage.”
Patagonia – Ryan Gellert, CEO
“Tribal Nations are the original stewards of this land, with ties to Bears Ears stretching back thousands of years. It is vital we support their vision to ensure these sacred cultural landscapes are protected. Today’s move by the president does the exact opposite. We remain committed to defending the land with those who have stewarded the area for time immemorial.”
Project Eleven Hundred – Mary O’Brien, Executive Director
“Of course President Trump has never walked in or personally seen Bears Ears or Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as countless generations of people have. And of the current generations who have or hope to or would like to, support is overwhelming for retaining these spaces and species and springs and scenery. It is so easy – and illegal – to write off a history or landscape or species or tribe while knowing nothing: nothing of the Milky Way or brightly-colored biocrusts or miniscule native bees or a long-ago handprint on a wall or anything else of real worth.”
Sierra Club – Loren Blackford, Sierra Club Executive Director
“This attempt to undo decades of conservation efforts represents an unprecedented attack on our public lands and Tribal sovereignty. Let us be clear, no President has the authority to undo these protections. Tribes and local communities called for these protections, people and wildlife rely on these landscapes, and all Americans benefit by preserving them. We will continue to work hand in hand with communities, local activists, and Indigenous partners to fight back against Trump’s illegal actions and ensure that our public lands are not sold out to billionaires and corporate polluters.”
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology – Stuart Sumida, President
“The scientific and cultural importance of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase- Escalante national monuments are unparalleled. As stewards of our earth’s history, we are deeply saddened that through its repeated devastation of their protections, this administration seeks to wipe from history both the presence and importance of our Tribal partners, and the scientific importance of the land that came before all of us. This action is deeply disrespectful of the Tribal groups in Utah and across America, to the vast majority of Utahns who support these monuments, to those that depend on them for their livelihood, and to the remarkable scientific and cultural understandings that we gain from them. Finally, this action is intensely disrespectful to the very office of the Presidency of the United States itself, an office that has the privilege, honor, and responsibility to enact such protections, and should not be an office of their destruction.”
Vet Voice Foundation – Janessa Goldbeck, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and CEO of Vet Voice Foundation
“Today, President Trump renewed his unprecedented assault on America’s public lands, targeting Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments once again.
Trump was the first president in American history to roll back national monument protections during his first term. Now, he is trying to do it again.
These lands are not just places on a map. They support local jobs and small businesses, provide affordable access for families, hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts, and protect places sacred to Tribal Nations. For veterans and military families, they are places to heal, reconnect, and earn a living.
This attack, cheered on by extremists like Senator Mike Lee, is outrageous but entirely predictable. Veterans understand what it means to serve something larger than ourselves. Trump and Lee serve billionaires and extraction companies looking to profit from lands that belong to all of us.
Veterans fought alongside Tribal Nations, local communities, small businesses and outdoor advocates to restore protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears. We will fight this attack with the same resolve, mobilizing veterans and military families from Utah to Washington, D.C., to defend these irreplaceable lands.”
Veterans for Public Lands – Gregg Bafundo, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, former USFS Wilderness Ranger, and Senior Advisor
“America’s public lands are the great equalizer. Whether prince or pauper, veteran or civilian, everyone stands equal on these lands. The importance of that equality is written into our founding documents.
Public lands give Americans – and America’s veterans like me – opportunities to heal, find joy, earn a living, and much more. President Trump’s decision to take a wrecking ball to Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments not only does a disservice to veterans and military families — it also disregards the wishes of millions of Americans.”
The Wilderness Society – Tracy Stone-Manning, President
“National monuments protect extraordinary wildlife, irreplaceable cultural and Tribal heritage, and our freedom to explore some of our country’s iconic landscapes. They belong to all of us. The administration is on the wrong side of history here, ignoring the voices of Tribal Nations, local communities, and the millions of Americans who want these places protected for future generations. As our nation marks 250 years, these public lands should be handed down, not over to drilling and mining interests. The Wilderness Society will fight this attack and stand with everyone working to protect these remarkable places.”
Western Resource Advocates – Joro Walker, Senior Attorney, Utah
“Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are rich with wildlife, cultural heritage and irreplaceable natural beauty. Protecting these public lands – that flow seamlessly into neighboring Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion and Arches National Parks – has preserved a fragile, interconnected ecosystem, better arming native species against the threats of climate change. It is unpopular, unwise and unlawful to gut protections for these great swaths of public land with the stroke of a pen.”
Western Watersheds Project – Laura Welp, Southern Utah Director, and former Grand Staircase-Escalante NM Botanist
“The last Trump administration’s attempt to gut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments ultimately failed after Tribes, conservationists, and businesses immediately filed suit and President Biden restored the monuments. We had hoped that President-elect Trump would be smarter and not waste his time – and all that taxpayer money – on these foolish and pointless vanity projects again. However, we are ready to once more fight against the depredations on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.”
Wild Earth Guardians – Chris Krupp, Public Lands Attorney
“As essential as Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are, this is not simply an assault on those places, or even on national monuments in general. Rather, it exemplifies Trump’s overall mission for managing our environment: eliminate as many safeguards on public lands, air and water as possible so that corporate interests can reap even greater profits. We once again need to fight for the places we love.”
Photos for media use
See a photo gallery of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
See a photo gallery of Bears Ears National Monument
Images and b-roll may be used royalty-free by members of the media with proper credit to the creators.
Contacts
Anna Peterson, Anna@conservationcommunications.org; 612-735-2402 (General requests)
Ruben Pacheco, rpacheco@bearsearscoalition.org; 505-331-4765 (Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition requests)
Autumn Gillard, autumnavielle@gmail.com; 928-614-2600 (Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition requests)
Dr. Jackie Grant, jackie@gsenm.org; 435-269-1237(Grand Staircase-Escalante requests)
Perry Wheeler, pwheeler@earthjustice.org; Senior Public Affairs and Communications Strategist for EarthJustice (Legal requests)
