Reports: Bears Ears to be cut by 85 percent, Grand Staircase by half

President Donald Trump intends to reduce the size of Bears Ears National Monument by nearly 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by almost half, according to news reports Thursday. Leaked documents obtained by the Associated Press show the total amount of land in the two monuments would drop from more than 3.2 million acres to about 1.2 million acres. The same reductions were reported by the Washington Post, which cited unnamed "individuals briefed on the matter," cautioning that there could be some changes before Trump officially announces the new boundaries when he visits Salt Lake City on Monday. Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of the Interior, told the Deseret News, "The Post has very old and outdated information." But she did not elaborate, saying she had "no further announcement at this time." Maps of the two reduced monuments were provided to the Deseret News by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. The group said they are U.S. Department of the Interior maps but declined to say how they were obtained. A source close to the monument discussions confirmed that the maps are very similar to recent versions that had been circulated...more