Nicolai Haugsted
Trump’s latest decision leaves environmental groups furious.
Donald Trump has once again turned America’s protected landscapes into a political battleground.
According to ABCNews, the U.S. president announced that he will shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, reviving a controversial policy from his first term and reversing protections that were restored by former President Joe Biden.
The decision reignites a years-long dispute over conservation, mining and who should control millions of acres of federally protected land.
Returning to a familiar fight
Trump previously reduced the size of both monuments during his first administration before Biden restored their original boundaries shortly after taking office.
Supporters of the move argue that the existing protected areas extend far beyond what is necessary and prevent access to valuable natural resources, including coal and uranium deposits.
Speaking at the White House, Trump described the order as a way of returning land to the public.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox welcomed the announcement.
“The question has never been whether to protect them, but how to protect them best.”
His office also stressed that land removed from the monument boundaries would still remain protected under existing federal and state laws.
Tribal leaders sound the alarm
Not everyone shares that view.
Conservation groups and Native American leaders argue that reducing the monuments threatens culturally sacred landscapes while opening the door to expanded mining and resource extraction.
Bears Ears is jointly managed through an agreement between tribal nations and federal agencies, making it one of the country’s most significant Indigenous co-management projects.
Davina Smith-Idjesa, co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and a citizen of the Navajo Nation, criticized Trump’s decision.
“Our connection to this place cannot be erased by the stroke of a pen.”
Environmental organizations have also questioned whether presidents even have the legal authority to reduce national monuments once they have been established under the Antiquities Act.
A century-old presidential power
The Antiquities Act, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, allows U.S. presidents to protect areas with cultural, historical or scientific significance.
Unlike national parks, which require approval from Congress, most national monuments are created through presidential proclamations.
Although environmental advocates argue the law was intended only to create protections—not remove them—history shows several presidents have reduced monument boundaries over the past century.
Since 1912, more than a dozen presidential proclamations have scaled back existing monuments, including actions taken by Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.
Trump’s latest order once again places that presidential authority under intense scrutiny as the legal and political battle over America’s public lands continues.
