Judge reopens lawsuits over Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante cuts

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has lifted stays on lawsuits challenging President Trump's reductions of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, Utah News Dispatch reported. The administration must give 48 hours' notice before ground-disturbing activities on lands removed from the monuments. ^[1]

Trump's 2017 cuts reduced Bears Ears from about 1.35 million acres to about 228,000 and Grand Staircase-Escalante from about 1.7 million to about 1 million. The cases were stayed after President Biden restored the boundaries in 2021. ^[1]

In July, Trump made larger cuts, shrinking Bears Ears to about 121,000 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante to about 182,000. Environmental groups moved to reopen the cases, citing mining claims filed on lands removed from the monuments. ^[1] The proclamations, signed July 13, set the reserved lands at approximately 121,096 acres for Bears Ears and 181,541 acres for Grand Staircase-Escalante. ^[3][4]

The White House says earlier administrations abused the Antiquities Act and that the cuts allow land use and mining of uranium, copper and other critical minerals. The court's Oct. 13 order, in the consolidated Bears Ears cases, set a status conference for Oct. 15 and told the parties to submit a joint proposed order on the notice terms by Oct. 27. It also cited a June 23 Tenth Circuit decision and the July 13 proclamation as changed circumstances. ^[2]