President Trump Declares Major Reduction of Bears Ears Monument
Environmentalists and some native tribes say  Mr. Trumpâs move  will destroy the national heritage and threaten some 100 000 sites of archaeological importance tucked into the monumentsâ desert landscapes. Conservative lawmakers and many Westerners argue that  the move  is the proper response to decades of federal overreach.
The announcement sparked immediate outcry from Mr. Trumpâs opponents.
âWhatâs next   President Trump â  said Rhea Suh  president of the Natural Resources Defense Council  âthe Grand Canyon?â
In April   the president  ordered the secretary of the interior  Ryan Zinke  to review 27 national monuments created since 1996  something  he  said would âend another egregious use of government power.â In August  Mr. Zinke delivered a report to the president suggesting that  Mr. Trump  change the boundaries of six of those monuments.
Americans on both sides of the aisle have anxiously awaited the decision. On Monday morning  hundreds of people gathered outside the State Capitol in cowboy hats to protest Mr. Trumpâs decision.
Further south  at the edge of the monument  another group had gathered to applaud Mr. Trumpâs decision over the weekend  standing beneath a banner: âThank you for listening to local voices.â
Mr. Trumpâs decision to reduce Bears Ears is viewed as a victory for Republican lawmakers  fossil fuel companies and others who argue that monument designations are federal land grabs that limit revenue and stifle local control. And it is considered a defeat for many environmentalists and recreation groups and for the five Indian nations who have fought for generations to protect the Bears Ears region.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah said  Mr. Trump âs decision would benefit  his  state. â He âs been sympathetic to our plight â  he  said of  the president . â He âs been sympathetic to the fact that weâve been mistreated  and Iâm grateful that  he  is willing to correct it.â
The federal government controls about two-thirds of the land in Utah  and the stateâs leading politicians have long pushed for more local control of public lands. In an interview  Gov. Gary Herbert  called Mr. Trumpâs move ânothing more than a realignment  a reconfiguration of the boundaries.â
 Mr. Trump  is not the first president to shrink a monument. Woodrow Wilson reduced Mount Olympus by half. Franklin Roosevelt cut the Grand Canyon monument at the behest of ranchers. (Both are now national parks.)
If  Mr. Trumpâs  legal challengers win in court  the decision could affirm future presidentsâ rights to use the Antiquities Act to extend protection to large areas of public land. And it could cement the boundaries of Bears Ears laid out by President Obama.
But if they lose  Mr. Trump and future presidents could drastically shrink any of the dozens of monuments created by their predecessors  opening the formerly protected terrain for all kinds of development.
Why is the Trump administration considering changes?
Environmentalists and some native tribes say   [TGT] will destroy the national heritage and threaten some 100 000 sites of archaeological importance tucked into the monumentsâ desert landscapes. Conservative lawmakers and many Westerners argue that   [TGT] is the proper response to decades of federal overreach.
The announcement sparked immediate outcry from Mr. Trumpâs opponents.
âWhatâs next   President Trump â  said Rhea Suh  president of the Natural Resources Defense Council  âthe Grand Canyon?â
In April   the president  ordered the secretary of the interior  Ryan Zinke  to review 27 national monuments created since 1996  something  he  said would âend another egregious use of government power.â In August  Mr. Zinke delivered a report to the president suggesting that  Mr. Trump  change the boundaries of six of those monuments.
Americans on both sides of the aisle have anxiously awaited the decision. On Monday morning  hundreds of people gathered outside the State Capitol in cowboy hats to protest Mr. Trumpâs decision.
Further south  at the edge of the monument  another group had gathered to applaud Mr. Trumpâs decision over the weekend  standing beneath a banner: âThank you for listening to local voices.â
Mr. Trumpâs decision to reduce Bears Ears is viewed as a victory for Republican lawmakers  fossil fuel companies and others who argue that monument designations are federal land grabs that limit revenue and stifle local control. And it is considered a defeat for many environmentalists and recreation groups and for the five Indian nations who have fought for generations to protect the Bears Ears region.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah said   [TGT]  âs decision would benefit   [TGT]   state. â He âs been sympathetic to our plight â  he  said of  the president . â He âs been sympathetic to the fact that weâve been mistreated  and Iâm grateful that  he  is willing to correct it.â
The federal government controls about two-thirds of the land in Utah  and the stateâs leading politicians have long pushed for more local control of public lands. In an interview  Gov. Gary Herbert  called Mr. Trumpâs move ânothing more than a realignment  a reconfiguration of the boundaries.â
  [TGT] is not the first president to shrink a monument. Woodrow Wilson reduced Mount Olympus by half. Franklin Roosevelt cut the Grand Canyon monument at the behest of ranchers. (Both are now national parks.)
If  Mr. Trumpâs  legal challengers win in court  the decision could affirm future presidentsâ rights to use the Antiquities Act to extend protection to large areas of public land. And it could cement the boundaries of Bears Ears laid out by President Obama.
But if they lose  Mr. Trump and future presidents could drastically shrink any of the dozens of monuments created by their predecessors  opening the formerly protected terrain for all kinds of development.
Why is the  [TGT]  administration considering changes?