Trump To Visit Utah Monday To Announce Plans To Shrink National Monuments

"President Trump will travel to Utah on Monday to lay out his plans to cut the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, according to individuals briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it had not been formally announced.

Democratic presidents established the two national monuments in southern Utah under the 1906 Antiquities Act, and both of them have generated considerable controversy. Barack Obama last December established Bears Ears, a 1.35-million-acre expanse that is home to tens of thousands of ancestral Pueblo archaeological sites, while Bill Clinton designated the nearly 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended scaling back both monuments, along with several others, as part of a report he delivered to the White House in August. Since that time, White House officials have been working with staff at Interior and the Justice department to draft proclamations that they think have the best chance of withstanding an inevitable court challenge from conservation and tribal groups, according to a senior administration official."

Juliet Eilperin reports for the Washington Post November 28, 2017.