President Trump Signs Executive Orders Reducing Utah National Monuments
President Trump signed executive orders reducing the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments located in Utah.
Miami Fort Lauderdale, FL, July 13, 2026 —
WASHINGTON D.C. – President Donald Trump has signed executive orders that significantly reduce the size of two national monuments in Utah: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.
The executive orders, signed by the President, alter the boundaries of the previously established national monuments. The Bears Ears National Monument, originally proclaimed in December 2016, is reduced from its initial size. Similarly, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, established in 1996, will also see its protected area decreased under the new directives.
The specific details of the boundary changes and the acreage affected by these executive orders were not immediately available in the provided summary. The impact of these reductions on conservation efforts, land management, and public access remains a subject of ongoing discussion and analysis.
Bears Ears National Monument encompasses approximately 1.35 million acres, while Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument covers about 1.87 million acres. The exact figures for the newly established boundaries following the executive orders were not provided.
The decision to reduce the size of these monuments has been a point of contention, with various stakeholders expressing differing views on land use, resource extraction, and preservation.
Story summarized from the original created by Rachel Frazin on thehill.com, see more information here.
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