Udall, Heinrich Press Interior Secretary to Postpone Management Plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Monuments Until Legal Challenges are Resolved

By Tom Udall Press Office 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich joined 11 Democratic senators in pressing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to postpone the development of management plans for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah until legal challenges regarding the president’s authority to reduce the size of the monuments have been resolved. The senators also asked that the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument management plan remain in effect for all lands within the original monument boundary until resolution of the legal challenges.

On Dec. 4, 2017, President Trump announced plans to shrink Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and cut Grand Staircase-Escalante to about half of its current size. In response, five American Indian tribes filed suit in federal court. They argue that although Congress delegated power to the president under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate national monuments, it did not give the power to reduce them.

“By moving forward with management plans prior to the resolution of the pending lawsuits, BLM could be leaving large swaths of land — full of important historic, cultural, ecological, and scientific resources — without proper protection,” the senators wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. “Until it is clear that the president had the proper authority to shrink both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, we urge you not to move forward with developing any management plans for these monuments.”

The letter was led by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Besides Udall and Heinrich, it was signed by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

On Jan. 30, 2018, Udall led the introduction of the America’s Natural Treasures of Immeasurable Quality Unite, Inspire, and Together Improve the Economies of States (ANTIQUITIES) Act of 2018, which was cosponsored by Heinrich and 17 other Democratic senators. The legislation enhances several national monuments, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico, and it reinforces Congress’ intent in the Antiquities Act of 1906: only Congress has the authority to modify a national monument designation.