BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
On December 28, 2016, President Obama issued Proclamation 9558, establishing the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, encompassing approximately 1.35 million acres of federal land. This Monument was set to be jointly managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Agriculture’s United States Forest Service (USFS).
On December 4, 2017, utilizing my authority under section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, known as the “Antiquities Act,” I issued Proclamation 9681, altering the Monument’s boundaries to comply with the Act’s requirements and ensure its effective management. This proclamation removed roughly 1.15 million acres from the Monument but reserved about 11,200 acres that were not initially included by Proclamation 9558. On October 8, 2021, President Biden issued Proclamation 10285, expanding the Monument to approximately 1.36 million acres by reinstating previously excluded lands.
The Antiquities Act empowers the President to declare lands with historic landmarks, structures, and objects of scientific interest as national monuments, provided these areas are limited to the smallest size required for their protection and management. When a President decides that such lands no longer warrant protection under the Act, they may be removed from monument status and returned to federal management. Determining appropriate boundaries involves considering the uniqueness of the objects, the protection needed, existing legal protections, management resources, and potential non-monument uses.
Considering these factors, Proclamation 10285’s designation is flawed under the Antiquities Act, necessitating this new proclamation. First, it protects features that are neither historic landmarks nor structures of interest, such as general landscapes within the Bears Ears region, which do not qualify as “landmarks” or “structures” under the Act. Second, some identified objects are common throughout the broader region, implying they lack unique historic or scientific value. For example, artifacts like lithic scatters and petroglyphs are widespread across the American West and are not exclusive to Bears Ears.
Third, Proclamation 10285’s land reservation does not adhere to the requirement of being the smallest area necessary for proper care and management, as it includes areas lacking significant historic interest. Fourth, many objects the proclamation intended to protect already receive substantial protection under post-Antiquities Act federal laws safeguarding archaeological, cultural, and natural resources.
For instance, over 500,000 acres of the Monument were already managed to preserve their roadless character before being designated as a national monument. The BLM manages about 380,759 acres as Wilderness Study Areas, ensuring their suitability for future Wilderness designation. On USFS-managed lands, 46,348 acres are part of the Dark Canyon Wilderness Area, protected under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Utah Wilderness Act of 1984. As such, many objects previously designated as monuments are adequately protected by existing federal law without requiring additional land reservation under the Antiquities Act.
Given these issues, I have determined that the land reserved by Proclamation 10285 is not limited to the smallest area necessary for proper care and management of the objects of interest. Instead, a smaller reservation of approximately 121,096 acres, divided into the Shash Jáa Unit and the Indian Creek Unit, will suffice. Adjusting the Monument’s boundaries in this manner aligns with the Antiquities Act and ensures adequate management resources for the protected objects.
Adjusting these boundaries will also free up public National Forest System lands for higher-priority uses. The Bears Ears region contains vital resources for energy and resource independence, crucial for national security. These resources—such as silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, uranium, vanadium, and zinc—are essential for the U.S. economy, including defense and manufacturing sectors. Reducing reliance on foreign sources for these resources is imperative. Revising the Monument’s boundaries helps secure domestic supplies, lessening foreign dependency threats.
The 106,816-acre Shash Jáa Unit represents the core of the Monument, encompassing objects of historic and scientific interest reflecting the Bears Ears region’s cultural and natural heritage. This unit features notable geological formations, including the iconic twin buttes, the Bears Ears, sacred to Native American tribes and historically significant for the region’s inhabitants. It also houses Arch Canyon, Mule Canyon, and Comb Ridge, a prominent monocline.
The Shash Jáa Unit is rich in cultural and archaeological artifacts, spanning thousands of years, from dispersed villages and pit houses to kivas and pottery. It includes large Puebloan villages, cliff dwellings, pictographs, and petroglyphs, as well as the Butler Wash Archeological District and Milk Ranch Point. The unit also contains significant paleontological finds and historic sites related to cowboys and early settlers, including features of the Hole-in-the-Rock Road and San Juan Hill.
Additionally, the Shash Jáa Unit includes five non-contiguous parcels, each with historic and prehistoric significance:
1) A 157-acre parcel for Doll House Ruin, a well-preserved granary and other prehistoric structures in a tributary of Woodenshoe Canyon.
2) A 314-acre parcel for Scorup Cabin, a historic line cabin used by early cowboys.
3) A 693-acre parcel for the Rig Canyon Mining Exploration Site, featuring a historic vertical oil well from 1926.
4) A 318-acre parcel for the Moon House complex, an example of Pueblo-decorated architecture on the National Register of Historic Places.
5) An 88-acre parcel for the Citadel, featuring several masonry rooms of Ancestral Puebloan origin.
The 14,279-acre Indian Creek Unit also holds valuable historic and scientific objects, such as dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs in Shay Canyon, Newspaper Rock, and paleontological resources.
Therefore, the areas described and mapped here represent the smallest necessary for the care and management of identified objects of historic and scientific interest. This adjustment preserves the Monument’s legacy and ensures protection under the Antiquities Act.
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, empowers the President to declare lands with historic or scientific interest as national monuments, and to reserve land for this purpose; and
WHEREAS, the Antiquities Act also allows alteration of a national monument declaration if objects are no longer or never were deserving of protection; and
WHEREAS, many items identified by Proclamation 10285 do not qualify as historic or scientific objects warranting monument status; and
WHEREAS, many resources do not require land reservation for protection, being either non-unique, unthreatened, or already protected by federal law; and
WHEREAS, the land reserved by Proclamation 10285 exceeds the smallest necessary area for protection; and
WHEREAS, BLM and USFS budget constraints have intensified since 2017, making it challenging to manage the vast lands within the Monument’s boundaries; and
WHEREAS, reducing reliance on foreign resources is more pressing now, requiring exclusion of lands retained by Proclamation 9681; and
WHEREAS, it serves the public interest to modify the Monument’s boundaries, removing approximately 1,238,904 acres unnecessary for object protection; and
WHEREAS, the described boundaries represent the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects identified.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, proclaim the modification of the Bears Ears National Monument boundaries to include lands within the described map. These areas, known as the Indian Creek Unit and Shash Jáa Unit, will include the Moon House complex, Citadel, Doll House Ruins, Scorup Cabin, and Rig Canyon Exploration site, covering approximately 121,096 acres. Lands not within the new boundaries are excluded from the Monument.
At 9:00 a.m. EDT, 60 days from this proclamation, subject to existing rights and laws, excluded lands shall be open to:
(1) Entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under public land laws and USFS laws;
(2) Disposition under laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing; and
(3) Location, entry, and patent under mining laws.
Unauthorized appropriation of lands under mining laws before restoration is prohibited. Acts for establishing location and right of possession are governed by state law unless conflicting with federal law.
Nothing in this proclamation removes lands from the Manti-La Sal National Forest or affects withdrawals, reservations, or appropriations set by Proclamations 9558, 9681, and 10285.
This proclamation does not change the management of areas designated by Proclamations 9558, 9681, and 10285 remaining part of the Monument, except as provided by the following paragraphs:
To ensure proper care and management of identified objects, and facilitate multiple uses of the Monument, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries) will maintain a management plan for the Monument and develop regulations for its management, consistent with applicable law. The Secretaries, through the BLM and USFS, will consult with other Federal land management agencies or components in the area, including the National Park Service, when developing any management plan. The development of any management plan will involve public consultation, including with federally recognized Tribes and State and local governments. The Secretaries will offer opportunities for resource sharing, efficiency, and cooperation with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, and Tribes. In management planning, the Secretaries must consider the importance of facilitating livestock grazing, maintaining public access for recreation and hunting, and providing educational experiences reflecting the Monument’s diverse natural and anthropogenic features and history.
Proclamations 9558 and 10285 established the Bears Ears Commission (BEC) to provide guidance on Monument management. The BEC is disbanded, and the Secretaries have no obligation to engage with it or a comparable entity from either Proclamation 9558 or 10285, though consultation with Tribal Nations will continue under applicable authorities.
Proclamation 9558 created an advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide management advice. This committee will include balanced representation from stakeholders, including members from the Hopi Nation, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Pueblo of Zuni; representatives from San Juan County, Monticello City, Blanding City, and the Town of Bluff; and six members recommended by the Governor of Utah, each from specified stakeholder groups.
This proclamation does not affect the designation, maintenance, or improvement of existing roads and trails within the Monument, governed by other laws and regulations. The Secretaries will prepare a transportation plan to maximize public access by designating roads and trails for motorized and non-motorized use and maintaining them appropriately. Before completion of this plan, motorized and non-motorized vehicle use on roads and trails designated before Proclamation 9558 may continue, and new designations may occur.
The Secretaries will consider the effects of proposed activities, including road closures, on historic roads in the Monument, according to regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800.
Consistent with the care and management of identified objects, the Secretaries may authorize ecological restoration and active vegetation management. Management planning will consider a full range of vegetation management tools, including mechanical mastication, grazing, and future technologies. To manage noxious weeds and invasive species, the Secretaries may use mechanical, natural, and chemical tools and should coordinate with the San Juan County Weed Board in planning treatments, utilizing livestock grazing as a primary option for managing fuels and vegetation.
The tradition of livestock grazing within the Monument and its cultural significance to local communities will continue unaffected. Livestock grazing will remain under laws and regulations other than this proclamation.
The Secretaries will strive to authorize traditional land uses, such as grazing, recreation, timber management, public access, and infrastructure development, to the greatest extent possible, consistent with applicable law, with narrowly tailored restrictions as needed.
Livestock grazing lands in the Monument will be considered a traditional cultural place (TCP), and proposed activities will be evaluated for their impact on this TCP according to regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800.
If any grazing permits or leases are voluntarily relinquished, the Secretaries will re-allocate forage within a year, issuing new permits or leases unless inconsistent with proper care and management of identified objects.
If any part of this proclamation, including its application to specific lands, is invalidated, the remaining portions will remain effective. Inconsistencies with Proclamations 9558, 9681, or 10285 will defer to this proclamation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.
DONALD J. TRUMP
