Environmentalists Are Suing to Block President Trump's Utah Monument Cutback
Environmental groups are suing to block President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back a national monument in Utah just hours after the decision was announced.
The lawsuit filed Monday by Earthjustice on behalf of several groups challenges the reduction of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which has been a source of Republican frustration since it was created by Bill Clinton in 1996.
The monument near the Arizona border contains a rich cache of dinosaur fossils and vast coal reserves.
Trump said in Salt Lake City that Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will be reduced by half, from nearly 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) to 1,569 square miles (4,064 square kilometers).
He also reduced Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. A coalition of American Indian tribes plans to sue over that decision.
