Hundreds protested across the state on Monday against President Trump shrinking Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bear Ears National Monuments.
Protestors argued the land needs to be protected for future generations, and that shrinking the monuments opens the door for it to be sold or developed. Tribal groups also said they weren’t consulted on the decision.
Utah political leaders claimed the monument designations were too broad and locked up too much land.
Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz, and Utah’s congressional delegation were all present when President Trump signed the orders to shrink both monuments.
Demonstrations were held in Ogden, Provo, Moab, St. George, and outside the Governors Mansion in Salt Lake City.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance organized all protests. They’re a conservation group that plans to challenge the change in court.
They won’t be the first — two other lawsuits have been filed in the past decade when the monuments were shrunk in President Trump’s first term and then reinstated by President Biden.
