ST. GEORGE — A federal judge Friday dismissed two lawsuits filed by the state of Utah that attempted to undo President Joe Biden’s restoration of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments and attacked the Antiquities Act as unlawful.
Several environmental groups and Native American tribes called the decision a victory, while Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the case is not over.
“Today’s result is another in a series of decisions that upholds a president’s authority to designate national monuments to protect important and vulnerable lands for the benefit of current and future generations,” Heidi McIntosh, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office, said in a news release.
Cox, on the other hand, said in a statement following the verdict that the nation’s president overstepped his bounds.
“This case will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and today’s ruling helps us get there even sooner,” Cox said. “The clear language of the law gives the president the authority only to designate monuments that are ‘the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.’
“Monument designations over a million acres are clearly outside that authority and end up ignoring local concerns and damaging the very resources we want to protect,” Cox added
On Monday, Attorney General Sean D. Reyes officially field an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, a necessary stop before any trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“All along, the State of Utah has sought appropriate protections of the precious, unique area in the heart of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante regions,” Reyes said in a statement. “But the current monument designations are overkill, by millions of acres. President Biden’s designations exceed his authority. We eagerly anticipate explaining to the Tenth Circuit why the law and the facts are on our side.”
In the original lawsuits, the plaintiffs claimed the Biden administration interpreted the 1906 Antiquities Act in an overly broad manner and disregarded its original intent: protecting particular historical or archaeological sites.
But in his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Nuffer emphasized that the Antiquities Act gives the president broad authority to designate national monuments and that the court could not second-guess that judgment, according to a news release.
On Oct. 8, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation modifying the boundaries and restoring acreage to both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
This action reversed a Dec. 4, 2017 proclamation by President Donald Trump who ordered the reduction in size of the two national monuments, stating the existing boundaries of the monuments are not “the smallest area compatible with the proper care of [an array] of historical objects, and they may be excluded from the monument’s boundaries.”
President Bill Clinton designated Grand Staircase a national monument in 1996, and President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears in 2016.
McIntosh expressed appreciation for the judge’s decision to reject the lawsuits and emphasized the environmental impact it will have.
“Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante protected these wonders from oil and gas drilling, mining and other destructive uses,” she said. “We are thrilled that the court agreed and upheld President Biden’s restoration of these monuments.”
Meanwhile, Cox said the legal battle will continue.
“We look forward to starting the appeals process immediately and will continue fighting this type of glaring misuse of the Antiquities Act,” he said.
These national monuments in Utah are described as follows by the Bureau of Land Management:
Bears Ears National Monument holds special meaning to a wide variety of users. This area’s rich cultural heritage is held sacred by many Native American Tribes, who continue to rely on these lands for traditional and ceremonial uses. The natural resources here are regularly used by local communities for firewood gathering and livestock grazing. Beyond cultural and natural resources, this area is meaningful to recreationists who visit the Bears Ears region to backpack, rock climb, river raft and more.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument spans across nearly 1.87 million acres of America’s public lands in southern Utah. From its spectacular Grand Staircase of cliffs and terraces, across the rugged Kaiparowits Plateau, to the wonders of the Escalante River Canyons, the Monument’s size, resources and remote character provide extraordinary opportunities for geologists, paleontologists, archeologists, historians, and biologists in scientific research, education and exploration.
Updated Aug. 14, 2023, 8 p.m.: Adds information about the attorney general officially filing an appeal.
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