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Bears Ears Grand Staircase plans, Trump administration finalizes plans

The Trump administration has finalized plans to dramatically shrink the scope of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments despite an ongoing legal challenge from environmentalists and Native American tribes.

Officials said during a call with reporters that the finalized plans were similar to previous proposals but contained some “tweaks,” including that cattle will not graze on a large portion the Escalante River.

“We are advancing our goal to restore trust and be a good neighbor,” said Casey Hammond, the acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management.

President Trump in 2017 issued proclamations to shrink the size of both Utah monuments. The administration decided to shrink Bears Ears by 85 percent and Grand Staircase by about half.

Conservation groups rebuked the announcement.

“The only certainty today’s announcement creates is of a long drawn-out court fight to stop yet another unprecedented attack on America’s public lands by the Trump administration. With these plans, the administration is racing to allow new development on formerly protected public lands before the courts can overturn its illegal action,” Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, said in a statement.

Bears Ears was designated by former President Obama in 2016 and Grand Staircase was designated by former President Clinton in 1996.

The shrinking of the monuments has been vigorously opposed by Native American tribes with ties to the protected areas.

“Today’s announcement from the administration doubles down on the biggest rollback of protected lands in our nation’s history,” Tracy Stone-Manning with the National Wildlife Federation said in a statement.

Stone-Manning said the “illegal decimation” of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments would open up ancestral lands for developments, including Navajo, Hopi and Ute mountains, which “could degrade wildlife habitat, threaten cultural sites and expose communities in southern Utah to unacceptable pollution and health risks.”

“We look forward to the day when the rightful boundaries of these two monuments are restored,” she added.