Trump Cuts 2 Popular Utah National Monuments by 90 Percent -- About 3 Million Acres
I suspect trump and his family seldom -if ever visit any of our National Parks and monuments.
Trump Cuts 2 Popular Utah National Monuments by 90 Percent — About 3 Million Acres
The executive order that reduces the size of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante by about 3 million acres is sure to face legal challenges
https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/trump-cuts-2-popular-utah-national-monuments-by-90-percent/
By Christine Peterson Jul 13, 2026 6:29 PM EDT
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Majestic landscape of canyon with sandstone rock formations, GrandStaircase-EscalanteNational Monument, Utah, USA
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Suzanne Stroeer / Aurora Photos, via Getty Images
President Donald Trump signed an executive order today once again slashing two popular Utah national monuments, this time by even more than he did in 2017. The order cuts the size of Bears Ears National Monument by 91% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by more than 90%, a reduction of about 3 million acres.
Utah’s congressional delegation including Sen. Mike Lee, a vocal opponent of public lands, joined Trump in a signing ceremony where the senator explained that national monuments should be “the smallest area compatible with the objects to be protected.”
The president added that on national monuments you “can’t go hunting, you can’t go fishing, you can’t do anything, you can virtually not even walk on it.”
However, hunting, fishing, camping, grazing, driving vehicles, hiking, and many other recreational activities are permitted on the national monuments. 
This decision to remove most of the monument designation is “short sighted,” says Ryan Callaghan, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. While opening the fragile desert up to more roads may create additional immediate hunting and recreation access, it also opens the door to increased invasive species, erosion, wildfires and development at a time when the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service are already overworked and underfunded, Callaghan says....................
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