Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

August 14, 2026

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Autumn Gillard, Coordinator, Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition; (928) 614-2600; autumnavielle@gmail.com
Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, pwheeler@earthjustice.org, (202) 792-6211
Keri Gilliland, The Wilderness Society, (KGilliland@tws.org)
Chaitna Sinha, Conservation Codirector and Staff Attorney, Grand Canyon Trust; (970) 399-9565 (csinha@grandcanyontrust.org)
Amy Dominguez, Sierra Club, amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org, (385) 355-4631
Kris Deutschman, Conservation Lands Foundation, kris@conservationlands.org, (505) 498-0212
Andrew Scibetta, NRDC, (202) 289-2421, ascibetta@nrdc.org
Daniel Hernandez, National Parks Conservation Association, dhernandez@npca.org, (202) 573-2201

SOUTHERN UTAH – Within one day of President Trump illegally reducing Bears Ears National Monument by over 90%, a company staked multiple mining claims in areas cut out of the monument. On July 14, 2026, Kimmerle Mining filed 7 mining claims (see map) with the San Juan County (Utah) Recorder’s Office. Kimmerle Mining previously filed mining claims after Trump’s 2017 reduction of Bears Ears and excavated a partially reclaimed mine shaft on one of the claims – the so-called Easy Peasy claim (this mine has been re-buried); Kyle Kimmerle (a Managing Member of Kimmerle Mining) was also a plaintiff in one of the cases filed in the District of Utah challenging President Biden’s 2021 restoration of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.  

Two mining claims were also recently filed in Grand Staircase-Escalante, less than one month after Trump’s attack. On August 6, 2026, Craig Rosequist filed two mining claims (see map) with the Kane County (Utah) Recorder’s Office in areas cut out of the monument by the Trump proclamations. According to public records, Rosequist previously located several mining claims in neighboring Washington County, Utah.

Under President Trump’s proclamations decimating Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, mining claims cannot be staked until 60 days after the date of the proclamation, which will be Friday, Sept. 11: “Appropriation of lands under the mining laws before the date and time of restoration is unauthorized.  Any such attempted appropriation, including attempted adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 38, shall vest no rights against the United States.” In light of this prohibition and the illegality of the Trump proclamations, the Bureau of Land Management should reject these recently filed claims in both national monuments. Below are quotes from Tribal leaders, conservation groups, and additional information. 

“When we talk about Grand Staircase-Escalante, we are not simply talking about public land or a national monument. We are talking about our homelands — living landscapes with personhood and spirit,” said Autumn Gillard, Southern Paiute and Coordinator of the Grand Staircase Inter-Tribal Coalition. “New mining on lands unlawfully cut from the monument threatens not just the land’s natural beauty, plants, and animals, but our sacred places, our culture, and our history. We are all stewards of these lands, and it is our duty to protect them for all our future generations, yours and mine.” 

“This rush to locate new mining claims in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments – even though premature and unlawful – reinforces the need to be vigilant over the next several years while we work to undo Trump’s illegal actions and restore the monuments.“said Hanna Larsen, Staff Attorney at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “Mining claims like these often lead to real and long-lasting damage to the very qualities that make these monuments so special.”

“The rush to stake mining claims in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante has already begun, nearly a month before new mining claims would be allowed even under the illegal Trump proclamations,” said Axie Navas, director of designation campaigns at The Wilderness Society. “It’s hard to imagine a clearer sign of where this administration wants to take our public lands. National monuments belong to all of us. They represent our freedom to experience some of the most extraordinary landscapes in the country. We owe it to future generations to protect them — not sacrifice them for the short-term profit of special interests.”

“Mining claims on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument puts crucial water resources at risk. The Monument protects over 2,510 river miles that could be negatively impacted by mining waste if claims are approved in haste. These rivers flow into Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon, which are visited by millions of people.” said Dr. Jackie Grant, Executive Director of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners. “If these mining claims are not being legally filed, what other illegal actions should we be worried about?”

“These illegal mining claims are proof that the Trump administration’s proclamations, if allowed to stand, would be devastating for public lands that are cherished by people across the country,” said Thomas Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “President Trump’s proclamations were themselves illegal, and forthcoming litigation will seek to avoid this exact outcome. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, incredibly significant to Indigenous communities and beloved by recreationists for their one-of-a-kind features, deserve better than to be sacrificed to industrial extraction.”

“The speed with which the mining industry moved to stake claims following the dismantling of the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments demonstrates the real-world consequences of stripping protections from one of America’s most important landscapes,” said Bobby McEnaney, Director of Land Conservation at NRDC. “This sequence of events underscores exactly why Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante were originally established and why these landscapes deserve lasting protection. These future mining claims amount to a virtual giveaway of public lands.”

“While it’s clear these Kimmerle Mining claims were illegally staked before the ink was dry on Trump’s proclamation stripping national monument protections from these areas, it’s important to recognize that any future mining claims in the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante cultural landscapes are unacceptable,” said Chaitna Sinha, Conservation Codirector and Staff Attorney with the Grand Canyon Trust. “The cultural values here are irreplaceable; this is simply the wrong place for destructive new mining.” 

“The mining claims we’re seeing submitted in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante on the heels of their illegal reduction goes to show that the Trump Administration intends to turn the public lands we love into sacrifice zones for privatization and exploitation,” said Franque Bains, Chapter Director of the Sierra Club in Utah. “We are prepared to fight to ensure that national monuments and public lands don’t become pawns in a scheme to turn a profit for corporate interests.” 

“It’s clear this administration will cut every corner and violate laws and guardrails to accelerate the destruction of America’s natural treasures,” Chris Hill, CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation. “The ideologues driving this anti-public lands agenda are willfully ignoring the millions of Americans who stood up to protect Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments and the overwhelming majority of Americans who support protecting MORE public lands. They forget they are accountable to everyone who values these natural places and is determined to expose their corruption.”  

“Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante were established to protect over a hundred thousand ancestral sites and are among the most beloved public lands in Utah. Mere weeks after their downsizing, we are seeing the very first mining claims being staked among their cultural and natural treasures, enabled by an outdated mining law from 1872,” said Sara Cawley, Energy Director at the National Parks Conservation Association. “It’s clear the arguments about access were always about access for mining companies. This puts the connectivity and health of dozens of national parks, monuments and protected wildlife corridors all the way to the Mojave Desert at risk, a precursor for what we can expect on other public lands under this administration unless more permanent protections are enacted to safeguard our special places.”

Background Information on Mining claims: 

• Map of 2026 claims in Bear Ears, showing the 2021 and 2026 Monument Boundaries and noting the location of the Easy Peasy Mine, created by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA)
• Map of 2026 Claims in Grand Staircase-Escalante, created by SUWA
• Photo and video assets of Kimmerle’s Easy Peasy Mine and surrounding claims, please credit Tim Peterson.
  • Gallery & Gdrive 
  • Video b-roll

Background information about the national monument reductions:

• Statements from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal coalitions
• SUWA Statement on Trump’s Illegal Reductions of Grand Staircase-Escalante & Bears Ears National Monuments
• Full Statement and Quotes Tracking
• Maps of the reductions
• Reporter Background Memo on National Monuments

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The Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition, which includes the Hopi Tribe, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Navajo Nation, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Zuni Tribe, advocates for Grand-Staircase-Escalante National Monument, for Tribal voices and perspectives to be heard and included in the management of the monument, and for protecting the monument for all Americans to appreciate and enjoy. Learn more at www.grandstaircasecoalition.org 

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.

The Grand Canyon Trust is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to safeguard the wonders of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado Plateau, while supporting the rights of its Native peoples. Learn more at www.grandcanyontrust.org

The post Mining Claims Filed Immediately After Trump Decimates National Monuments in Utah – 8.14.26 appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Thirty-seven senators recently signed a letter to President Trump vehemently opposing his recent monument reductions and standing up for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. That letter sent a clear message: our national monuments must not be attacked, diminished, or treated as bargaining chips.

But Trump’s attacks don’t stop at monument boundaries. The wild public lands surrounding and connecting many national monuments in Utah are part of the same remarkable redrock landscape and deserve lasting protection.

Please thank your senator(s) for signing the letter while also urging them to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, landmark legislation that would protect more than 8 million acres of wild public land in Utah as wilderness, including lands within the national monuments.

Trump’s attack on the monuments is part of a broader effort to weaken protections for public lands across Utah and the West. The Red Rock bill offers a powerful response: permanent congressional protection for the canyons, mesas, badlands, and other desert wild lands that make this region so extraordinary.

The lands proposed for wilderness designation under the Red Rock bill provide critical wildlife habitat and migration corridors, protect cultural resources, and preserve intact desert ecosystems. Cosponsoring this visionary legislation is one of the clearest ways lawmakers can show they are serious about defending America’s public lands from attacks now and in the future.

Please contact your senator(s) now and ask them to cosponsor the Red Rock Bill. If one or both of your senators have already cosponsored, they’ll just receive a thank-you message.

The Senate sign-on letter is an important public rebuke of Trump’s actions on Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears. Now let’s build on that and make sure Congress protects the surrounding redrock wilderness lands that are essential to the future of these landscapes.

Thank you for taking action!

The post Thank Your Senator(s) for Defending National Monuments in Utah, Ask Them to Cosponsor ARRWA appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

August 5, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Salt Lake City, UT – Monday, following a formal appeal from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country District withdrew its June 2026 decision approving 10 backcountry airstrips in the heart of Utah’s redrock country. These airstrips, many of which show no signs of recent use and none of which were designated for use, are scattered across some of the most remote and ecologically sensitive landscapes in southern Utah—including the Gemini Bridges/Labyrinth Canyon area and the remote backcountry immediately adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument. Below is a statement from SUWA Wildlands Director Neal Clark and additional information.  

“This is a case of ‘better late than never.’ We’re glad to see the agency pull back its decision, which would have authorized more motorized use in remote, wilderness-quality landscapes,” said Neal Clark, Wildlands Director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “BLM’s decision would have benefitted a handful of private pilots to the detriment of wildlife, native vegetation, and public lands users seeking quiet, backcountry experiences. We appreciate BLM’s reconsideration and will work to ensure that these airstrips are not authorized for use in the future” 

Additional information: 

Based on recent on-the-ground fieldwork, SUWA called on the BLM to reject six of the ten proposed airstrips: Spring Canyon, Big Flat, Castle Creek, Nokai Dome, Piute, and Red Canyon; a map of those six airstrips can be found here. None of these airstrips have ever been officially designated, and despite unauthorized past use, many of these locations will require extensive clearing and ground disturbance as they have begun reclaiming and are not functional for takeoff or landing. Reopening them would require removal of mature native plants like blackbrush and junipers, fragmenting habitat and degrading wilderness characteristics. Several locations are within BLM-identified wilderness-quality lands or directly adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument, where aircraft noise and visual intrusions would diminish the solitude, natural soundscapes, and cultural landscapes these areas were meant to protect. 

The Spring Canyon and Big Flat airstrips lie within crucial bighorn habitat along the Green River corridor and near Canyonlands National Park—the same landscape where the BLM already restricts other recreation activities to protect these important species during lambing season. Similarly, raptors nesting near Big Flat, Nokai Dome, and other sites are highly sensitive to aviation noise, which discourages use of otherwise suitable nesting habitat. 

 SUWA’s members submitted over 2,500 comments in opposition to the decision. This decision comes on the heels of BLM approving the Keg Knoll airstrip in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness on June 12, 2026. SUWA’s previous release on the Keg Knoll approval can be found here.  

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Statement on BLM’s Cancellation of 10 New Backcountry Airstrips in Redrock Country – 8.5.26 appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Another day, another threat to America’s public lands and Utah’s wild places. The Trump administration is now undertaking a sweeping review of existing policies on the management of designated wilderness, wilderness study areas, and wilderness-quality lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These policies provide crucial protection and clear management direction for millions of acres of public land across the nation, including more than 7 million acres of BLM-managed land in Utah.

The Interior Department is accepting public comments through Friday, August 14. Tell the Department to uphold existing policies protecting wilderness and wilderness-quality lands.

You can probably guess why this is happening. True to the Trump administration’s pattern of anti-conservation initiatives and actions, the review is intended to reduce management requirements and weaken protections for designated wilderness and other wilderness-quality lands, clearing the way for increased extraction, development, and expanded off-road vehicle use on some of the nation’s remaining wild public lands. In Utah, this includes spectacular landscapes at the heart of redrock country—places like Fisher Towers, Grand Gulch, White Canyon, Robbers Roost, and the Vermillion Cliffs.

While the Trump administration is fixated on sacrificing our remaining wild places to corporate interests and destructive uses, they underestimate the importance and value of these places to the American public. The desire to see these wild public lands protected crosses political boundaries.

Wilderness and wilderness-quality lands are some of the most cherished places for families to camp, hike, sightsee, hunt, and fish. They provide clean air and water, critical habitat for wildlife, and endless opportunities for rejuvenation and human-powered recreation. For all of these reasons and more, it’s crucial that we manage our last wild landscapes in a way that preserves their wilderness character for future generations.

The post Take Action to Protect Wilderness and Wilderness-Quality Lands appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

July 30, 2026

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Amy Dominguez, Deputy Press Secretary, Sierra Club, (385) 355-4631; amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org
Caitlyn Burford, Senior Communications Manager, National Parks Conservation Association, cburford@npca.org, (541) 371-6452
Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, pwheeler@earthjustice.org, (202) 792-6211

SOUTHERN UTAH – Just over two weeks since President Trump decimated Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, the administration is racing ahead with its work to try and erase the National Monuments from both the landscape and public awareness. Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed signage from Bears Ears National Monument, starting with the Tribal seals representing the 5 Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission and quickly escalating to the complete removal of the monument signs themselves. By Tuesday, July 28, signs signifying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument had also been removed from at least 5 gateway locations.

These signs play a practical role. They mark the entrances to the national monuments for visitors, indicating that these areas are some of the nation’s most important protected public landscapes that together protect over a hundred thousand ancestral cultural sites. By clearly communicating to visitors that this is an irreplaceable area created to protect significant cultural and archeological resources, proper signage can help prevent damage. Removing monument gateway signs, coupled with the administration’s illegal reduction of more than 3 million acres from the monuments, will lead to confusion, uncertainty, and chaos on the ground and in surrounding communities. 

The removal of signage carries particular significance at Bears Ears. The signs made visible the role of Tribal Nations in co-managing and stewarding their ancestral lands. Removing Tribal recognition from these public lands erases an indelible part of the landscape. The five Tribal seals were removed from the Bears Ears monument signs following the proclamation that terminated the Bears Ears Commission. The seals represented the formal role of the five Commission Tribes in the collaborative management of their ancestral homelands. Their removal is a visible sign of the dismantling of that framework, but it does not change the Tribes’ connection to the living cultural landscape or their responsibility to care for it. 

The Trump Administration’s efforts to erase history are not new. Over the last year, efforts by the administration to erase or alter historical interpretation on public lands, including removing signs and displays across national parks, have been met with strong public opposition. People have made it clear that parks and monuments should reflect the full history of these places, including the histories, cultures, and living traditions of Tribal Nations. The Salt Lake Tribune, Outside, and other news outlets covered the removal of the Bear Ears signage. Additional information and quotes can be found below. 

“Make no mistake, overseeing the removal of gateway signs welcoming visitors to Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments is a part of the plan by the Trump administration and Senators Lee and Curtis and Governor Cox to try and eliminate the monuments from the nation’s collective memory,” said Steve Bloch, Legal Director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “They’re going to find that it won’t be that easy; attacking public lands has consequences. Americans love their national parks and monuments and ‘won’t let them ‘go gently into that good night.’” 

“Removing the signage at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is another example of taking action without prior consent or adequate preparation. It is exactly what we expect from this administration,” said Dr. Jackie Grant, Executive Director at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. “The signs at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument do not just mark the boundary, they keep visitors safe by providing them with navigational markers and on the ground information. The signs should have stayed in place until a replacement solution was ready to go.” 

“Removing the signs that announce protected public lands is deeply alarming, and symbolizes the attempted erasure this Administration is undertaking of landscapes that are profoundly meaningful,” said Chapter Director of the Sierra Club in Utah, Franque Bains. “But wiping their existence won’t go without resistance. Utahns have shown up time and time again to defend Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Bears Ears, and this time won’t be any different. We won’t let it.”

“Removing the Tribal seals from Bears Ears first, then tearing down the gateway signs at Grand Staircase-Escalante, tells you everything you need to know about this administration’s priorities,” said Axie Navas, director of designation campaigns at The Wilderness Society. “These monuments exist because Tribal Nations and communities across Utah fought to protect places that belong to all of us. Erasing that history from a roadside sign doesn’t erase our responsibility to pass these lands down intact, so future generations have the same freedom to experience them as we do today.”

“While the Trump administration is removing signage in its attempt to dismantle Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, this destructive gesture does not decide the monuments’ fate,” said Thomas Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “Just as we did with Trump’s 2017 revocations, we will challenge these illegal rollbacks in court. The intent of the Antiquities Act was clear: to protect our nation’s archaeological, cultural, and scientific wonders; not to destroy them.”

“You can tear down signs, but you cannot erase the history, cultural significance, or overwhelming public support behind Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments,” said Chris Hill, CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation. “Removing monument signs and the Tribal seals diminishes the lived history and our shared understanding of the cultural continuity that these treasured landscapes hold for the Tribes and all of us. These lands remain sacred, beloved, and worth fighting for. Communities across the country will not allow this administration to erase them from the map or our collective memory.”

“President Trump’s proclamations to gut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments were already an unlawful betrayal of Tribal Nations and the American people. Now, the rush to remove the names and Tribal seals from the landscape feels deliberately dismissive of the Tribes whose histories, cultures, and enduring relationships are inseparable from these ancestral homelands,” said Cory MacNulty, Southwest Campaign Director at the National Parks Conservation Association. “The proclamations did more than reduce monument boundaries. They dismantled historic Tribal co-stewardship structures that recognized Tribal Nations as leaders in the care and management of their ancestral lands. Visitors deserve opportunities to understand their profound significance to Indigenous peoples, not federal efforts that conceal, diminish, or erase those connections.”

Background information about the national monument reductions:

• Statements from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal coalitions
• SUWA Statement on Trump’s Illegal Reductions of Grand Staircase-Escalante & Bears Ears National Monuments
• Full statement and quotes tracking
• Maps of the reductions
• Reporter Background Memo on National Monuments
• Royalty-free assets for media use, please credit creators 
  • Photos of places cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument available here (Google album) and here (Google drive).
  • Photos of places cut from Bears Ears National Monument available here (Google album) and here (Google drive).
  • Video b-roll of Bears Ears for media use is available here

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.

The post Trump administration works to erase Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments – 7.30.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

In April, when the Trump administration first announced it wanted to open the Greater Chaco Canyon region in New Mexico to oil and gas drilling, we asked you to speak up. Following an initial scoping period that generated over 100,000 comments in support of maintaining broad protections for this remarkable place, the Department of the Interior has doubled down on its plans and released a formal Environmental Assessment with a brief 14-day public comment period.

Please take action today and help defend the Greater Chaco Region

After decades of advocacy by Tribal Nations and conservationists, federal protections in the greater Chaco region were finally put in place in 2023 with the establishment of a 10-mile buffer zone shielding the Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new oil and gas leasing. The administration is now considering two options, neither of which is acceptable: revoking protections entirely or shrinking the buffer to just 5 miles.

In either scenario, thousands of cultural sites would be exposed to drilling. Although only 15-20% of the area has been surveyed, archaeologists estimate that as many as 12,000 cultural sites lie within the areas the Trump administration plans to open to leasing and exploitation. Indigenous communities already living with the health impacts of over 37,000 nearby wells would face even more industrial development at their doorstep. 

Comments are due this Wednesday, July 29. We encourage you to make your voice heard by using the advocacy action from our friends at New Mexico Wild; they also have a web page where you can learn more about the threats facing Chaco Canyon.

The post Another Chance to Speak Up for Greater Chaco Canyon appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Trump Slashes Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears by 3 Million Acres

We’ve known since Trump returned to office that he would likely attempt another illegal reduction to Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, but that didn’t make July 13 any less heartbreaking. On that day, flanked by the Utah congressional delegation, he signed two executive orders slashing the monuments by a combined 3 million acres, or nearly 90% (yes, you read that right). We’ve created maps showing the staggering scale of the reductions.

We were ready for this moment, and we will fight for the monuments in every way we can, using every tool in our toolbox for as long as necessary. Here are some examples of how we’re already responding:

• A week after Trump’s unlawful action, SUWA and our partners rallied to host a Monumental Day of Action, with over a thousand people attending events in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, Moab, St. George, Bluff, and Boulder on a 100-degree day! The Salt Lake Tribune headline captured it well: “‘Motivated by love’: Utahns find strength in numbers during protest of Trump’s monument slashing.“
  
  
• We plan to litigate over these illegal reductions, as we did in 2017 (that case was not resolved by the time President Biden restored the monuments in 2021). We’re currently coordinating with conservation partners, Tribal nations, and the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalitions to determine a litigation strategy based on the new proclamations.
  
  
• We’re ramping up our efforts to promote America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would protect much of the land included in the monuments as wilderness.

We’ll be sharing much more in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, you can learn more from some of the recent news coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Utah News Dispatch, KUER, Outdoor Life, and Rocky Mountain Community Radio.

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

Last Day to Submit Comments on Trail Canyon and Dinosaur North Travel Management Plans

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting public comments on travel management plans for two very different but spectacular areas: Trail Canyon, east of Zion National Park, and Dinosaur North, near Dinosaur National Monument. The plans will determine where off-road vehicles (ORVs) are allowed to travel in these areas for decades to come.

Trail Canyon includes places like Moquith Mountain, Orderville Canyon, and the east and north forks of the Virgin River. Dinosaur North encompasses the John Wesley Powell National Conservation Area, Browns Park, and the B and C sections of the Green River (well known to river runners). Both areas are home to irreplaceable cultural sites and historic resources, spectacular recreation opportunities, and important habitat for elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and other species.

For both travel plans, only Alternative B—modified by additional route closures—would comply with the BLM’s duties to protect natural and cultural resources and balance conflicts between motorized and non-motorized recreationists. In both cases Alternative B would remove redundant and particularly damaging routes while helping preserve wilderness study areas and other wilderness-quality lands.

The agency’s public comment period closes today (July 22), so please submit your comments now if you haven’t already done so.

>> Click here to submit comments on Trail Canyon

>> Click her to submit comments on Dinosaur North

Photo © Ray Bloxham/SUWA

Airstrip Designations Threaten Wildlife Habitat, Backcountry Solitude

SUWA has spent a great deal of time lately pushing back on new and troubling Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposals that would expand or legitimize aircraft use in some of southern Utah’s quietest and wildest landscapes.

This spring, the agency’s Price field office issued a disappointing decision permitting aircraft takeoffs and landings at the unauthorized Keg Knoll airstrip in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness. A week later, the BLM’s Canyon Country District issued a decision designating ten backcountry airstrips in the Moab and Monticello areas, including sites in or near wilderness-quality lands, bighorn sheep habitat, the Green River corridor, and the backcountry adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument.

Though the BLM held no formal public comment process, SUWA members submitted over 2,500 comments urging the agency to remove six of the most damaging airstrips from their decision—Spring Canyon, Big Flat, Castle Creek, Nokai Dome, Piute, and Red Canyon. Reopening or formalizing these airstrips could bring chronic aircraft noise, habitat fragmentation, vegetation clearing, and mechanized intrusion into places the agency should be protecting.

We’re evaluating our options to push back on the BLM’s disappointing decisions and will keep you posted.

Photo © James Kay

July Brings New Cosponsors for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act 

Since the beginning of the month, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (HR 2467/S 1193) has gained seven new cosponsors in the House of Representatives! This brings us up to 76 cosponsors in the House and 18 in the Senate. The latest members of Congress to endorse the bill include Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL-7), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6), Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA-3), Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3), and Rep. André Carson (D-IN-7). If any of these legislators represent you, please thank them for their support.

America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act aims to permanently protect over 8 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land in Utah as federally designated wilderness. Preserving the wild character of this spectacular and world-renowned landscape would help protect Native cultural sites, keep climate-disrupting fossil fuels in the ground, and maintain a vital migration corridor for western wildlife species.

Gains in cosponsorship are the result of persistent outreach to members of Congress from constituents like you! If your representative and/or senators have not signed onto the bill, please ask them to cosponsor the Red Rock bill today!

>> Click here to contact your members of Congress now

Photo © James Kay

Raise Your Voice for Wilderness

SUWA is a proud founding member of the National Wilderness Coalition, which began just a few years ago as a small group discussing the future of the wilderness movement and is now a nationwide coalition of over 50 organizations from coast to coast. What brings us together is a shared goal of reinvigorating a diverse, powerful wilderness movement.

Earlier this year, the Coalition launched Voices for Wilderness, a project that collects stories, experiences, and perspectives about why wilderness and wild places matter. We’re hoping you’ll participate in this effort by sharing your story in the format that feels most comfortable to you: video, voice recording, or written response. Examples from other wilderness enthusiasts and details about how to participate can be found here.

In the months ahead, these stories will be shared on the Voices for Wilderness website, across social media, and with decision-makers in Washington, DC. At a time when wild places face growing threats, it’s more important than ever to share why they matter.

>> Click here to share your story

The post July 2026 Redrock Report appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

July 17, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

What: A Monumental Day of Action by Utahns opposing the illegal reductions on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments on Monday, July 20. 

When & Where: Five locations throughout Utah:

• Ogden, 5:00-6:00 pm, near Rep. Blake Moore’s office at the SW corner of 25th St and Washington Blvd.
• Salt Lake City, 6:00-7:00 pm at the Governor’s Mansion, 603 E. South Temple St.
• St. George, 6:00-7:00 pm at the offices of Sen. Lee and Rep. Maloy, 111 E. Tabernacle St, Suite 324
• Moab, 6:00-7:00 pm. Meet at the Moab Information Center, 25 E. Center Street
• Provo, 5:00-6:00 pm at the offices of Sen. Curtis and Rep. Kennedy, 3601 N. University Ave, Suite 250

Why: On Monday, July 13, President Trump—flanked by Utah Governor Spencer Cox and the entire federal delegation (Senators Lee and Curtis, Representatives Maloy, Kennedy, Moore, and Owens)—decimated Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, cutting them by a combined 3 million acres, or over 90%. Protest attendees are encouraged to bring a sign (some will be provided) and be ready to raise their voices against the Utah politicians who supported Monday’s actions.

We encourage the media to attend and speak with protesters. Have questions about the day of action? Please reach out to Grant Stevens, SUWA Communications Director, grant@suwa.org, 319-427-0260.  Professional photography will be available following the events.

*SUWA advocates strongly for protecting Utah’s wild lands with strategies that meaningfully engage all cultures and abilities. We do so respectfully and firmly. We act within the law. We do not condone violence or destruction of property.

Background information about the illegal reductions:

• Statements from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal coalitions
• SUWA Statement on Trump’s Illegal Reductions of Grand Staircase-Escalante & Bears Ears National Monuments
• Maps of the reductions
• Reporter Background Memo on National Monuments
• Royalty-free assets for media use, please credit creators 
  • Photos of places cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument available here (google album) and here (google drive).
  • Photos of places cut from Bears Ears National Monument available here (google album) and here (google drive).
  • Video b-roll of Bears Ears for media use is available here

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post Media Advisory: Protests against National Monument reductions to occur across Utah on Monday, July 20  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.