Patagonia, tribes and conservationists reopen suit to block Utah national monuments reduction

Patagonia, several tribal nations and conservation groups reopened a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration after the president approved a 91% reduction of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, cutting more than 3 million acres to open land to mining and oil and gas development.

The coalition's amended complaint argues the Antiquities Act lets presidents create monuments but never authorizes them to abolish or shrink them, and warns mining claims have already been filed on the excised land, just as they were after the first attempt in 2017.

Patagonia's CEO disputed the president's claim that the monuments were essentially inaccessible, citing visitor totals near 416,000 at Bears Ears and 936,000 at Grand Staircase-Escalante in 2024, along with economic data showing significant job and income growth in the surrounding areas since the sites were protected.

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