When President Donald Trump travels to Utah on Monday, he will announce drastic reductions in the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments.
The Washington Post reports that President Trump will reduce Bears Ears by 85%, from 1.35 million acres to just 201,397 acres. Grand Staircase-Escalante will be reduced by half, from 1.9 million acres to 997,490. Grand Staircase would also be split into three separate areas.
The draft documents do not include many specifics on how the revised monuments will be managed, but each one emphasizes that the monument designations are “confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects identified” by the president as worthy of protection.
Grand Staircase-Escalante would be split into three areas known as Grand Staircase National Monument, Kaiparowits National Monument, and Escalante Canyons National Monument. Bears Ears will be divided into Indian Creek National Monument and the Shash Jaa National Monument, the latter of which will include two well-known ruins, Moon House and Doll House.
A recent UtahPolicy.com survey shows 52% of Utahns support reducing the size of the national monuments.
