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President Trump has signed proclamations that dramatically reduce the size of two national monuments in southern Utah. Conservationists and tribal leaders worry that it could undo years of work to protect these lands. KUER's David Condos has more.
DAVID CONDOS, BYLINE: Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments are vast, wild landscapes filled with red rock cliffs, sandstone canyons and thousands of years of Indigenous history. They were established by Presidents Clinton and Obama, respectively. With his proclamations Monday, Trump cut their sizes by 90% and 91%. That opens land to mining for resources he says could help the nation's economy and energy independence. Now, the president shrunk both monuments in his first term, too, before President Biden restored them in 2021. But the latest cuts are even bigger.
DAVINA SMITH-IDJESA: I am angry.
CONDOS: Davina Smith-Idjesa is a member of the Navajo Nation and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition.
SMITH-IDJESA: I am hurt. And I'm tired of standing here having to explain again why Bears Ears matters.
CONDOS: She says, in addition to preserving the past, the monuments are also about making sure Native peoples can continue to pray and conduct ceremonies on that land today. And the Bears Ears proclamation also terminated a groundbreaking partnership between the federal government and tribes that incorporated Indigenous guidance on managing the monument. Utah political leaders have long targeted these two monuments as examples of federal government overreach. Celeste Meyers is a Kane County commissioner near Grand Staircase. She now sees better economic prospects for mining and logging.
CELESTE MEYERS: I hope it opens up for a little more prosperity and different ways to make livelihood rather than tourism and recreation.
CONDOS: Utah's governor and congressional delegation stood behind Trump as he signed the proclamations. Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva says the Trump administration is systematically rolling back public land protections across the West.
ADELITA GRIJALVA: We need to remain vigilant in protecting all of our sacred areas because this has never been about responsible land management. This administration is handing over public lands to private interests.
CONDOS: Several conservation groups have called Trump's proclamations illegal and say they plan to challenge them in court. For NPR News, I'm David Condos in St. George, Utah.
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