National Monuments

The Utah congressional delegation introduced a resolution to undo the Biden-era management plan for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, employing a rarely used law that's never before been used to target a national monument.

National monuments across the West do more than preserve iconic landscapes — they also help protect the rivers millions of people rely on for drinking water. But a new analysis warns those protections could weaken under the Trump administration’s push to redraw the boundaries of several monuments.

The nonpartisan Center for American Progress found that 31 national monuments are at risk of having protections reduced or revoked under the Trump administration. But that would jeopardize some of the water on those landscapes, which provide drinking water for millions of people.

A Trump Department of Justice opinion says that presidents have the authority to revoke or shrink national monuments—bucking over 100 years of legal precedent.