Rumors Fly Over Bears Ears Shrinkage

Speculation is swirling over what changes President Trump will make to two national monuments in southern Utah. Trump has said he will visit the state in early December to announce a downsizing of the new Bears Ears monument, which is currently 1.35 million acres. Bears Ears was designated a year ago by President Obama under the century-old Antiquities Act. Trump is also expected to shrink Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is more than two decades old and was designated by President Clinton. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that staff members with Kane County, home of Grand Staircase, have presented Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke with a map showing just 200,000 acres that they believe should retain monument status out of the current 1.9 million acres. That would be a reduction in size of close to 90 percent. However, the Tribune reports that Senator Orrin Hatch’s office has said Trump will cut Grand Staircase roughly in half. Conservation groups, Native American tribes, and some tourism interests oppose changes to the monuments and have planned a rally in Salt Lake City on December 2nd to protest Trump’s plans. Some groups have also said they will challenge any alterations in court. The Antiquities Act does not specifically give presidents the authority to unilaterally rescind or shrink monuments, only to create them.