October 15, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on Judge Chutkan Reopening National Monuments Litigation – 10.15.26
Today’s Status Conference ordered the federal government to notify plaintiffs of on-the-ground activity
Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Washington, DC – On Tuesday, US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order granting SUWA and other conservation groups’ request to reopen the case and lift the stay that was in place regarding 2017 litigation over President Trumps’ illegal reductions of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. Today, during a status conference, the Judge ordered the parties to agree on a briefing schedule and to confer on her current notice order requiring the federal government to give plaintiffs 48 hours advance notice of surface disturbing activities on the lands cut from the national monuments. Below is a statement from SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch and additional information.
“President Trump’s attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, two crown jewels of the nation’s public lands system, was illegal, plain and simple,” said Steve Bloch, Legal Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “And because of this unlawful act, irreplaceable cultural resources and the monuments’ unique geology and flora and fauna are now at risk from activities like mining. Today’s hearing was an important step towards restoring protections for the monuments. We’re looking forward to presenting our arguments to the court and defending these remarkable landscapes.”
Additional information:
On September 2, 2026, conservation groups (including SUWA) challenged President Trump’s July 2026 unlawful decimation of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. The groups filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking to reactivate litigation against Trump’s 2017 monument rollbacks and challenge both sets of illegal proclamations together. Conservation groups were joined by two additional coalitions of monument supporters, who also filed to renew their litigation on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante today.
In July, President Trump illegally redrew the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, reducing both monuments by more than 90%. The attack was one of the largest rollbacks of public lands protections in U.S. history, cutting a million acres more than the 2017 reductions. From 2018-2021 (during the previous, illegal reduction) there were a total of 20 mining claims filed in the lands cut from Bears Ears National Monument. As of mid-October, more than triple that number – 72 claims – have been filed.
The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes presidents to designate national monuments, but it does not give them the power to shrink the monuments created by their predecessors or to undercut their protections. Congress’s intent was clear: the Antiquities Act must be used to protect the nation’s archaeological, cultural, and scientific wonders.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — home to dinosaur fossils not found anywhere else in the world — is often described as a “dinosaur Shangri-la.” It was established as a national monument in 1996, and in the two decades since it was protected, paleontologists have unearthed fossils from 21 previously undiscovered dinosaur species.
The region also holds great cultural significance to numerous Tribes. It is renowned for the remarkable geologic features for which it is named — a series of massive, stepped cliff formations that form, literally, a grand staircase. It is home to serpentine canyons that provide endless hiking adventures and streams that support diverse populations of native plant and animal life.
Bears Ears National Monument is home to cliff dwellings and other structures built by the Ancestral Puebloan people, more than 100,000 Native American cultural sites, innumerable historic landmarks, and iconic wildlife such as bears, bighorn sheep, and mountain lions. Tribes continue to visit the lands to hold ceremonies and connect with their ancestors. The 2016 monument designation included a historic plan for co-management of this unique landscape by federal agencies and five Tribes (the Bears Ears Commission) with sacred cultural interests in the lands.
National monuments provide economic benefits to local economies, creating jobs, enhancing communities and boosting local outdoor recreation economies across the country. Monuments are also incredibly popular. A 2026 State of the Rockies poll found that 91% of Western voters say existing national monument designations should be kept in place. Contrary to Trump’s statements, the monuments offer numerous opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and education and see over a million visitors combined annually. These activities and visitors are vital economic drivers for the rural communities that serve as gateways to the monuments.
Earthjustice represents The Wilderness Society, National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, and the Center for Biological Diversity in the litigation. The Natural Resources Defense Council and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) are co-plaintiffs, represented by their own counsel.
Because the existing cases are currently stayed, the plaintiffs also asked the court to reopen the cases and formally requested permission to file the updated complaints.
Photos of both national monuments are available here: https://medialibrary.earthjustice.org/share/083E8A8D-5C8A-474D-9783139D836B7ACE/
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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 a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
