Environmental organizations said they would vigorously defend the restoration of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument borders after the state of Utah filed suit against the federal government.
Earthjustice (representing nine environmental organizations), Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council stated they are committed to defending the monuments’ borders and the Antiquities Act itself.
“Utah counties already lost their challenge to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2004,” said Erik Molvar of Western Watersheds Project. “Now, local and state governments are playing ‘sore loser’ and plying these same shopworn arguments again to try to block the conservation of these national treasures in Grand Staircase and in Bears Ears too.”
President Joe Biden restored the monuments’ boundaries after the Trump administration reduced them in 2017 by roughly 2 million acres.
