March 16, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on President Trump’s Undoing of Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments – 3.16.25
Late Night Trump order is unlawful under the 1906 Antiquities Act
Contacts:
Steve Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (801) 859-1552 (steve@suwa.org)
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT– Several national news outlets are reporting that this past Friday night President Trump signed an Executive Order undoing Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments in California. Below is a statement from SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch and additional information.
“The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the local communities, organizations, and Tribal Nations who supported the establishment of Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments,” said Steve Bloch, Legal Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments have endured similar attacks, making us all too familiar with the chaos and uncertainty caused by Trump’s illegal actions. Our nation’s remarkable public lands are held in trust for all Americans, regardless of income or background; they are not items on a balance sheet to be sold off to the highest bidder. Protected public lands are worth fighting for and we are confident these attacks will not be successful.”
Additional Information
Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments were designated in January 2025 by President Biden. Chuckwalla, near Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California, is over 600,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public land and “…spans across the transitional zone where the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts come together, offering stunning landscapes, rich biodiversity, and unique geological features.” Sáttítla Highlands, in Northern California, is over 200,000 acres of national forest land “… and provides protection to tribal ancestral homelands, historic and scientific treasures, rare flora and fauna, and the headwaters of vital sources of water.”
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated as a national monument in 1996 to protect the incredible scientific, ecological, and paleontological resources within its 1.9 million acres. This crown jewel of our nation’s public lands was the first monument managed by BLM and was the first unit in the agency’s now robust and expansive “National Conservation Lands” program.
Since its establishment, heightened protections for the Monument’s geology, paleontology, wildlife, plant communities, and ancestral sites have succeeded in preserving these unique values for generations to come, and local communities on the Monument’s doorstep have benefited as well. More than 25 years later, the numerous benefits of protecting Grand Staircase-Escalante are clear: the monument preserves a remarkable ecosystem at the landscape-level and sets the stage for future discovery about human, paleontological, and geologic history on the Colorado Plateau.
Bears Ears National Monument is a region of extraordinary natural diversity and cultural significance. On December 28, 2016, President Obama used his authority under the Antiquities Act to establish Bears Ears National Monument, granting a new layer of protection to some of the most spectacular places in southern Utah. Equally important, the proclamation elevated the voices of Tribal Nations that have ancestral ties to the region. Nearly 100,000 irreplaceable archaeological and cultural sites were covered by the proclamation.
The Bears Ears proposal was led by the five Tribal Nations that together comprise the “Bears Ears Commission:” the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe. As part of the collaborative planning process, the Bears Ears Commission developed A Collaborative Land Management Plan for the Bears Ears National Monument, which “synthesizes Tribal perspectives for the management of the Bears Ears living landscape.”
Previous Actions
On December 4, 2017, President Trump ignored millions of public comments and eliminated large swaths of both National Monuments. Grand Staircase was slashed by 47 percent – roughly 900,000 acres; Bears Ear was slashed into two much smaller, non-contiguous units totaling less than 230,000 acres (an 83% reduction). This unprecedented and unlawful action left rare archaeological sites, unique flora and fauna, and stunning wildlands without protection from the location of new hardrock mining claims, off-road vehicle damage, and sweeping vegetation removal projects.
Thankfully, on October 8, 2021, President Biden signed a proclamation restoring Grand Staircase-Escalante to its full, original boundaries. President Biden also signed a proclamation restoring Bears Ears to its full, original boundaries—plus an additional 12,000 acres added to the Monument by Trump.
In 2022, BLM began the process of developing new management plans for each Monument. SUWA members and supporters from across the country submitted comments to the BLM calling for holistic, conservation-based management plans worthy of these remarkable places. The final plans for both Monuments (Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bear Ears) were signed in January 2025.
Litigation
In December 2017, SUWA along with a coalition of conservation organizations sued President Trump in Federal Court in Washington, D.C. over his unlawful dismantling of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. The five Tribal Nations comprising the Bears Ears Commission also sued over Trump’s attack on Bears Ears and other conservation and business organizations likewise challenged both Trump orders. President Biden restored the monuments before the Court could issue a final decision on the illegality of Trump’s orders.
In August 2023, a Federal District Court Judge in Utah dismissed lawsuits brought by the State of Utah, Blue Ribbon Coalition, and others challenging President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to restore the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. The state and other plaintiffs quickly appealed that decision to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held oral argument on September 26, 2024, and will issue a decision in the coming months. SUWA and nine other conservation organizations have intervened on behalf of the United States to defend President Biden’s restoration of the Monuments, as have four Tribal nations.
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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.
