Trump shrinks Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments — implementing Project 2025 on public lands
President Trump signed proclamations shrinking Bears Ears National Monument by 91% (from 1.36 million acres to ~121,100 acres) and Grand Staircase-Escalante by ~90% (from 1.87 million acres to ~181,500 acres), repeating and escalating his 2017 cuts. This action directly implements Project 2025's blueprint to maximize fossil fuel extraction on public lands.
The administration's July 2026 monument reductions follow a deliberate Project 2025 playbook. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's February 2026 Secretarial Order 3418 — issued under Trump's Executive Order 14154 — directed a review of all withdrawn public lands, explicitly targeting monuments like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase. A May 2026 DOJ legal memo asserted presidential authority to completely revoke monuments, providing legal cover. These actions remove protections from 2.93 million acres of culturally and ecologically vital land, harming Indigenous tribes (Navajo Nation, Hopi, Ute Indian Tribe, Zuni Pueblo) who consider Bears Ears sacred and hold tens of thousands of archaeological sites.
The reductions are not final: legal challenges are expected under the Antiquities Act and the trust responsibility to tribes. The outdoor recreation economy in Utah, which generates roughly $1.5 billion annually, faces significant losses. Congress should clarify the Antiquities Act to limit executive overreach, and courts should rule that these cuts exceed statutory authority, as they represent the largest-ever removal of public-lands protections. The administration's actions also target the Biden administration's 2021 restoration of the monuments, which had broad public support. Reversing this damage requires litigation, congressional action, and administrative re-designation.
The humanitarian alternative
A democratic alternative would codify the Biden-era monument boundaries through legislation—the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Expansion Act—which would put the protections beyond executive whim. This bill, already introduced in previous Congresses, would designate the areas as national conservation areas with co-management by the Bears Ears Commission (tribal representatives) and the BLM. To address legitimate concerns about local economic impacts, the legislation could pair monument designations with a permanent $50 million annual fund for outdoor recreation infrastructure, trail maintenance, and wildfire prevention in adjacent counties—creating jobs without destroying the landscapes that drive tourism.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- Within 12 months, at least two new mineral lease sales will be announced in the former monument areas.
- At least one lawsuit will be filed against the order by a coalition of tribes and environmental groups within 60 days.
Original source — excerpted
news What to know about Trump's order shrinking the size of 2 national monuments in Utah"What to know about Trump's order shrinking the size of 2 national monuments in Utah SALT LAKE CITY -- Revisiting actions from his first term that were reversed..."