Trump will shrink Bears Ears during Utah visit Monday

President Donald Trump will fly into Utah on Monday to announce that he’ll shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, sources familiar with the trip confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune. Trump will travel to Salt Lake City where he’ll explain why he’s changing the boundaries of the two monuments, the sources said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the trip. The president is not expected to visit either monument or stay in Utah overnight. The White House said last month the president would travel to Utah to make an announcement on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to change the monuments. Trump had ordered a review of all national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act going back to 1996, a time period that included President Bill Clinton’s naming of the Grand Staircase-Escalante. Sen. Orrin Hatch and other Utah officials have pressed Trump to either eliminate or shrink the monuments, which cover large swaths of federal lands in the southern part of the state. Environmentalists and tribes have said they will seek legal action to stop any changes, which they don’t believe the president can do under the 1906 Antiquities Act...more