Statute

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Proclamations (Trump)

July 2026 proclamations cut Bears Ears to 121,096 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante to 181,541 acres, and ended the tribal commission.

Citation: Proclamation 11043 (Bears Ears; 91 FR 45169) and Proclamation 11044 (Grand Staircase-Escalante; 91 FR 45179), signed July 13, 2026, published July 17, 2026
Year: 2026
Effect on land rights: eroded

What happened

On July 13, 2026, President Trump signed Proclamation 11043, modifying Bears Ears, and Proclamation 11044, modifying Grand Staircase-Escalante. Both were published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2026.

Proclamation 11043 says the 2021 designation, which expanded the monument to about 1.36 million acres, "suffers from several flaws under Antiquities Act analysis." It says proper care can be provided "by a smaller reservation of approximately 121,096 acres comprising two units: the Shash Jáa Unit and the Indian Creek Unit," and that approximately 1,238,904 acres are excluded. Those excluded lands "shall be open to" entry under the public land laws, to mineral and geothermal leasing, and to location under the mining laws. The proclamation also says the Bears Ears Commission "is hereby disbanded and terminated," while Interior and Agriculture "shall continue to consult with Tribal Nations in accordance with other applicable authorities." It creates a stakeholder advisory committee that includes one member each from the Hopi Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Pueblo of Zuni, alongside members from San Juan County and local towns and six members recommended by Utah's governor.

Proclamation 11044 says Grand Staircase-Escalante had been increased to about 1.87 million acres in 2021 and substitutes a reservation of approximately 181,541 acres in two units.

The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition's site calls the Bears Ears change "one of the most severe setbacks in the history of Bears Ears" and says it ended "the nation's first and most established framework for Tribal collaborative management of a national monument."

Good to know. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition describes the cut as about 91 percent; 121,096 acres is about 9 percent of 1.36 million.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

proper care and management can be provided to those objects by a smaller reservation of approximately 121,096 acresProclamation 11043, Modifying the Bears Ears National Monument, 91 FR 45169
The BEC is hereby disbanded and terminatedProclamation 11043, Modifying the Bears Ears National Monument, 91 FR 45169
shall be open to: (1) entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land lawsProclamation 11043, Modifying the Bears Ears National Monument, 91 FR 45169
a smaller and more appropriate reservation of approximately 181,541 acres comprising two unitsProclamation 11044, Modifying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 91 FR 45179
The proclamation ended the nation’s first and most established framework for Tribal collaborative management of a national monument.The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Turns Eleven (bearsearscoalition.org)

Research notes. The Federal Register text of both proclamations was read, but the record's report that NARF would sue for the Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe was not found in a source opened here, so it is not stated. The record's 'about 91 percent' figure is the Coalition's wording; 121,096 acres is about 9 percent of 1.36 million. The record's source (nit.com.au) was not used. The 60-day timing of opening to mineral entry was not confirmed in the text read; the proclamation says lands 'shall be open' subject to valid existing rights and restoration timing.

Who is doing the work

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Doctrine applied 3

Policy era 1

Contemporary: Repair, Repatriation, Co-Stewardship, and Land Back2000suggested

Used to carry out 1

Bears Ears National Monument (2016-2026): designation, reductions, restoration and the July 2026 action (context, not a treaty claim)2017suggested

Sources

Kind: Statute
Confidence: High

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