The map of proposed changes suggests that the president is prepared to reduce the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante monument to under 1 million acres and split the remaining acreage into three new monuments — Grand Staircase National Monument, Kaiparowits National Monument and Escalante Canyons National Monument. Under the new plan, the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument also will be eliminated. Some of its acreage, reduced to just over 200,000 acres, would be placed in two new smaller entities, the Indian Creek National Monument and the Shash Jaa National Monument. Trump’s actions follow an executive order in April that directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review all national monuments established since 1996. Tribal leaders said they were prepared to defend the Bears Ears boundaries in court.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 01, 2017 20:15 UTC