More than 2 million acres that many Tribal Nations consider ancestral homelands could be reopened to mining and mineral claims after President Donald Trump ordered sweeping reductions to two Utah national monuments.
The order reduces Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from approximately 1.87 million acres to approximately 181,500 acres, while reducing Bears Ears National Monument from approximately 1.36 million acres to approximately 121,100 acres. The order also dissolves the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Commission, which was created in 2016 to guide management after the monument was established under the Antiquities Act.
Beginning 60 days after the order, the acres removed from the monuments will be available for mineral leasing, mining claims and other public land dispositions, according to the announcement.
“The Proclamations reduce these monuments to appropriate sizes…
