More than 1.2 million acres of formerly protected land that formed part of Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah face an uncertain future after the Trump administration reduced its boundaries by more than 90% under a July 13 proclamation.
The proclamation reduced Bears Ears from approximately 1.36 million acres to about 121,000 acres. Since September, multiple companies have already filed more than 70 mining claims on land removed from the monument. Meanwhile, on October 13, a federal judge reopened lawsuits challenging Trump’s authority to shrink the monument in the first place. For Indigenous nations with ancestral ties to the region, this fight is about more than just mining companies extracting from the land. They are concerned about the protection of their sacred ceremonial and archaeological sites that have been integral to their cultures and spiritual traditions for generations.
Hopi tribal member and Bears Ears advocate Jessica Wiarda describes the monument as a place whose importance is reflected in the unusual alliance formed to defend it.
“Bears Ears is so unique that I was shocked that all these tribes came together to protect this one place,” Wiarda said. ”So that really means that it’s really significant because it’s historically really difficult to get tribes to communicate and be on one page.”
Trump first reduced Bears Ears back in 2017, after President Barack Obama designated it in 2016. Then Joe Biden restored the larger boundaries in 2021. In July 2026, Trump again reduced the monument, arguing that the previous boundaries covered more territory than necessary to protect particular historic and scientific features.
On Sept. 2, several groups asked a federal judge to revive litigation over Trump’s 2017 monument rollbacks and allow them to challenge his latest cuts as part of those cases. The Bears Ears plaintiffs include conservation groups represented by Earthjustice, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as the Native American Rights Fund, tribal nations with ties to the monument and a group that includes Patagonia.
Source: Why Black America Should Pay Attention To The Battle Over Bears Ears
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