June 10, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUWA Statement on DOJ Opinion Regarding Revocation of Monument Designation- 6.10.25

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – Earlier today, the US Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel released an opinion on the Revocation of Prior Monument Designations. The opinion states that the President can diminish or outright undo national monuments, reversing course on more than a century of settled law. Below is a statement from SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch. 

“It should come as no surprise that President Trump’s Justice Department came up with the answer that he was looking for,” said Steve Bloch, Legal Director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “Americans care deeply about seeing national monuments like Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears protected for current and future generations and overwhelmingly oppose seeing them dismantled or diminished. These monuments represent the crown jewels of our nation’s public lands and contain unique plant and animal species, cultural resources, and scientific wonders found nowhere else on Earth. We’re confident in our ability to defeat any attempt to undo protections for these remarkable places.”

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org