Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Joe Biden took action today to restore protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

On December 4, 2017, then-President Trump gutted two million acres from these national monuments, reducing the boundaries of Bears Ears by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half—opening some lands removed from the monuments to mining and oil and gas drilling. Sovereign Tribal Nations, WildEarth Guardians, and other conservation organizations immediately sued to protect the monuments’ value to Indigenous culture, biodiversity, world-renowned paleontological resources, and outdoor recreation. Those lawsuits are pending.

Below is a statement from John Horning, WildEarth Guardians’ Executive Director:

“WildEarth Guardians is elated that President Biden has restored Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments. We thank the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Indian Tribe for their resolve in leading the fight to protect Bears Ears. Now we can once again get to work preserving the biodiversity and cultural, archeological and paleontological resources of these spectacular landscapes.”