President Trump eliminates 90% of 2 Utah national monuments

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Monday afternoon that shrank the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments — again. The two orders collectively cut nearly three million acres out of monument protection, including 1.69 million acres of land from Grand Staircase Escalante-National Monument and 1.24 million acres for Bears Ears National Monuments — about 90% of the land previously protected in each monument. These southern Utah landscapes have been caught in political crosshairs for decades, and environmental groups opposed to the reduction called the move “illegal.” “We’ve done something that was, I think, very desperately needed,” Trump said during the executive order signing. “Was very unfair to the people of Utah, and now fairness has been brought back.” (Video from the White House)