The US has acknowledged Bears Ears and Grand Staircase as sacred for over a century, but keeps stripping away protections
Nearly 3 million acres will lose monument status in September, opening land in Utah to mining and ordinary public-lands management, officials said.
- On July 13, 2026, President Donald Trump signed proclamations cutting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments by roughly 90%, returning nearly 3 million acres to ordinary public lands management in September.
- The cuts followed a long campaign by Utah Republican leadership to reopen land for mining, utilizing the Antiquities Act of 1906 to justify the modification.
- A 2021 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found at least 31 culturally significant species at ancient habitation sites, while Jim Enote, a Zuni tribal member, stated that consecrated structures "become sacred forever."
- Tribal nations emphasize they were not consulted regarding the decision, which opens the excluded land to mining and removes legal protections for ground they consider sacred.
- Blackfeet scholar Rosalyn LaPier argues tribes struggle because courts view the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act as policy rather than law, reflecting a broader pattern where the United States acknowledges sacred lands without providing lasting protections.
36 Articles
36 Articles
Researchers work with tribal members to capture Bears Ears through virtual reality
A Bears Ears virtual reality project is preserving ancient cliff dwellings just as a new executive order shrinks the monument by nearly 90%. Lead archaeologist Ben Bellorado shares the work July 23 at the Moab Information Center.
The Conversation
The US has acknowledged Bears Ears and Grand Staircase as sacred for over a century, but keeps stripping away protections
Native religions are tied to living landscapes, not points on a map. A scholar of Indigenous studies explains why reducing the protected area has profound religious and cultural consequences.
America has said Bears Ears and Grand Staircase as sacred for over a century, however assists in keeping stripping away protections
President Donald Trump signed proclamations on July 13, 2026, chopping the scale of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante nationwide monuments through kind of 90% – that means just about 3 million acres will lose monument standing and revert to peculiar public lands control in September. The Antiquities Act of 1906 calls for presidents to make use of proclamations to determine or alter nationwide monuments. The cuts adopted an extended…
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