Since the Trump Administration scaled down the size of two national monuments in Utah — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — more than half a dozen mining claims have been filed for those areas. Environmental groups say this could set a dangerous precedent.
The two national monuments together comprised over 3 million acres of land. The Trump Administration scaled back the size of Bears Ears National Monument to less than 9% of its previous size, from 1.3 million acres to 121,000 acres. Grand Staircase Escalante was reduced to less than 10% of its previous size, from 1.9 million acres to 181,000. Those reductions took place by executive order in July.
"These are two of the crown jewels of America's system of federal public lands," said Steve Bloch with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which has been monitoring the status of these monuments. SUWA has documented at least seven applications to mine the millions of acres that were previously part of the monuments.
While the mining claims can't technically be accepted until Sept. 11, Bloch believes the trajectory is clear.
"We're concerned that that's a real harbinger for what's going to come once the lands are officially open," he said. "We know that's just the first step to seeing real on-the-ground activity. Seeing new road construction, clearing of areas for mines and then the kind of ground-disturbing activity that accompanies mining exploitation."
The Trump Administration says the unique cliffs and multi-layered rock formations do not make them "landmarks" or "objects of historic or scientific interest," but the lands do contain several critical minerals the administration has identified: "such as chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silver, thorium, titanium, uranium, vanadium, zinc, and zirconium." The executive order says these are essential for the nation's economy, including for defense, manufacturing and transportation.
Bloch contends using federal public lands to extract minerals will do more harm than good.
Exploiting our national monuments is not going to make a meaningful difference in our search for critical minerals and other resources we may need to advance into the future," said Bloch.
The Trump Administration also created the National Energy Dominance Council in support of these efforts.
While other areas have not been subject to downsizing by executive order, the administration has discussed doing so with newer parks like Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado and Avi Kwa Me National Monument in Nevada. But it has taken steps to weaken protections, affecting parks in Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming, according to the watchdog group American Progress.
The MWNB reached out to Kimmerle Mining, one of the mining companies identified by Earthjustice. But did not receive a response. The environmental organization says: "On July 14, 2026, Kimmerle Mining filed 7 mining claims (see map) with the San Juan County (Utah) Recorder's Office. Kyle Kimmerle (a Managing Member of Kimmerle Mining) was also a plaintiff in one of the cases filed in the District of Utah challenging President Biden's 2021 restoration of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments."
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
Copyright 2026 KNPR News