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Patagonia, tribes sue Trump over Utah monument shrink

Patagonia, tribes sue Trump over Utah monument shrink

Rule Changes Salt Lake City, UT local

Second court fight over presidential power to shrink protected lands

3 days ago: Patagonia, tribes, greens file suit

Overview

Updated Yesterday

Patagonia, five tribal nations, and environmental groups took the Trump administration to court Wednesday over its decision to shrink Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments by 90 percent. The suits revive a 2017 legal fight that stalled when the Biden administration restored the monuments.

The Supreme Court has never settled whether the Antiquities Act lets a president undo a predecessor's monument designation. The answer determines who controls roughly three million acres of red-rock country, and whether the mining and drilling claims filed since July can move forward.

Why it matters

If the shrink stands, mining moves into protected red-rock country, and future presidents gain power to erase land protections at will.

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Key Indicators

90%
Reduction in each monument's size
Trump's July proclamations cut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by about 90 percent each.
2
Monuments at stake
Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, both created by Democratic presidents.
9
Mining claims filed since July
Claims filed on land that was protected until the policy shift.

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

June 1906 September 2026

7 events Latest: 3 days ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date
  1. Trump again shrinks the monuments

    Proclamation

    Each monument is cut by about 90 percent, opening millions of acres to mining and drilling.

  2. Biden restores the monuments

    Proclamation

    The original boundaries are restored; the 2017 litigation goes on hold.

  3. Trump shrinks both monuments

    Proclamation

    Tribes and environmental groups immediately file suit challenging the reductions.

  4. Obama creates Bears Ears

    Proclamation

    The first national monument created at the request of five tribal nations, spanning 1.35 million acres.

  5. Clinton creates Grand Staircase-Escalante

    Proclamation

    The 1.7-million-acre monument is established in southern Utah over local opposition.

  6. Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act

    Law

    The law grants presidents power to protect federal lands and historic sites as national monuments.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1943–1950

Grand Teton settlement (1950)

President Franklin Roosevelt enlarged Grand Teton National Park by proclamation in 1943, provoking lawsuits from Wyoming officials. Congress resolved the fight in 1950 with legislation codifying the park's boundaries.

Then

The statute ended the litigation and set a compromise boundary.

Now

It became the model for resolving monument fights through Congress rather than the courts.

Why this matters now

Shows the alternative path — legislative settlement — that could end the current dispute without a Supreme Court ruling.

September 1996

Grand Staircase-Escalante designation (1996)

President Clinton created the 1.7-million-acre monument in southern Utah, halting a proposed coal mine on the Kaiparowits Plateau. Local officials and industry fought the designation for years.

Then

The coal mine was abandoned; the monument became a tourism draw.

Now

It established the modern pattern: presidents use the Antiquities Act to lock up lands against resource extraction, and opponents challenge the scope of that power.

Why this matters now

The 2026 fight reopens the same conflict — protected red-rock lands versus energy development — with the same law at its center.

December 2017 – June 2023

Bears Ears legal challenge (2017–2023)

After Trump's first shrink, tribes and environmental groups sued. In 2021, a federal judge ruled the shrink exceeded presidential authority. The D.C. Circuit reversed on standing grounds, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. The legality of monument reduction was never decided.

Then

The shrink was reversed when Biden restored the monuments in October 2021, mooting the core dispute.

Now

The merits question — whether presidents can shrink monuments — remains open, which is why the 2026 suits revive the same argument.

Why this matters now

The new lawsuits are an attempt to get a court to finally rule on the question that escaped review last time.

Sources

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