The Interior Department finalized plans to open Utah lands formerly under national monument protections to drilling, mining, and grazing development.
President Trump announced significant cuts to Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in December 2017. The cuts went into effect in February 2019, allowing companies and individuals to begin applying for permits to develop the land.
“With these decisions, we are advancing our goal to restore trust and be a good neighbor,” said Casey Hammond, DOI acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management. He said the administration’s plans would greater balance protections over native cultural sites and local resource management, according to the Washington Post.
Former President Bill Clinton designated Grand Staircase-Escalante as a national monument in 1996, and Trump reduced the area from 1.7 million acres to about 1 million. Trump also cut Bears Ears, which was designated by former President Barack Obama, from 1.35 million acres to just over 200,000 acres.
On the day of Trump’s December 2017 announcement, environmental groups sued the Trump administration over the proposed cuts, arguing that national monuments designated under the 1906 Antiquities Act could not be reduced.
Hammond said the administration is moving forward with its plans to open the areas for development despite the lawsuits.
“If we stopped and waited for every piece of litigation to be resolved, we would never be able to do much of anything around here,” Hammond said.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert praised Interior’s plans, saying, “Monuments should be as small as possible to protect artifacts and cultural resources. And they should not be created over the objections of local communities.”
