Trump Gutted Bears Ears. Biden Restored It. Trump Cut It Again.

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National monument designations under the Antiquities Act of 1906 protect federal lands from development, mining, and extraction. They do not prevent public access or recreational use. They prevent the land from being opened to commercial exploitation — which is precisely what the Utah congressional delegation and the extraction industry had long sought for the Bears Ears region, which contains uranium, oil, and gas deposits. Trump's reduction opened those lands to potential mining claims and extraction leases. The archaeological and cultural sites within the removed area lost federal monument protection.

The Designation and the Reduction.

Obama designated Bears Ears National Monument on December 28, 2016, responding to a years-long campaign by tribal nations who had sought formal federal protection for the land. The designation reflected an unprecedented coalition of Indigenous nations working together, and it was the first national monument designation with Indigenous co-management built into its structure. Trump signed proclamations reducing Bears Ears by roughly 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by roughly 46 percent on December 4, 2017, standing alongside Utah's Republican governor and congressional delegation at the Utah State Capitol.

The reductions were immediately challenged in court by tribal nations, conservation groups, and outdoor recreation companies. Multiple lawsuits argued that the Antiquities Act did not give a president the authority to shrink a monument designated by a previous president — that the Act authorized designations but not un-designations. The legal question was unsettled when Biden acted.

Biden's Restoration and Trump's Second Cut.

Biden restored Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante to their Obama-era boundaries by presidential proclamation in October 2021. He also designated two additional national monuments. The restorations were broadly popular with conservation groups, tribal nations, and the outdoor recreation industry — which had come to represent a significant part of Utah's economy. Patagonia, REI, and other outdoor companies had publicly opposed the Trump reductions.

Trump, in his second term, moved again to reduce monument protections — part of a broader energy dominance agenda that prioritized extraction over conservation. The legal battles over presidential authority to shrink monuments designated by predecessors continued, with the courts still working through the constitutional questions. The underlying issue — whether public lands exist primarily as a resource reserve for industry or as a protected inheritance for future generations — remained unresolved in law even as the policy pendulum swung back and forth with each administration.