Leaked Maps Show How Trump May Slash National Monuments
Draft government maps reveal massive cuts to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah. But will such measures go through?
Maps of draft proposals that would drastically shrink the boundaries of two U.S. national monuments in southern Utah’s Red Rock country leaked Thursday to multiple organizations. They are visible in the tweet embedded above.
According to this draft proposal, Bears Ears National Monument would be reduced by 85 percent, from its current 1.35 million acres to 201,397 acres. Grand Staircase Escalante would be cut by half, from nearly 1.9 million acres to 997,490 acres. Grand Staircase would be split into three areas, each named as a separate monument. Bears Ears would be divided into two monuments. Last January, Utah’s congressional delegation asked Trump to abolish or drastically reduce both monuments.
The U.S. Interior Department declined to comment, but an administration official
