Overview
- President Trump issued proclamations on July 13 that reduced Bears Ears by about 91 percent and Grand Staircase‑Escalante by about 90 percent, carving each monument into much smaller management units.
- A broad coalition of roughly 18 plaintiffs including Patagonia, Access Fund, tribal nations and scientific groups filed motions and new suits on Sept. 2 to reopen 2017 cases and to void the 2017 and 2026 reductions.
- Access Fund moved to reopen its 2017 Bears Ears lawsuit specifically to add the July proclamation and to protect Indian Creek, which it says lost over 80 percent of its monument protection and threatens roughly 1,200 climbing routes.
- Conservation groups reported at least nine mining claims on lands stripped of monument status within weeks of the July order and warned that mineral leasing or extraction could start as protections lapse on September 11.
- The legal fight centers on whether the Antiquities Act allows a president to shrink or eliminate monuments and could set a nationwide precedent that affects the stability of more than a hundred other monuments and tribal co‑management arrangements.