Appeals court revives Utah challenge to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase boundaries
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A federal appeals court has reopened Utah’s challenge to the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, sending the case back to a lower court to determine whether former President Joe Biden exceeded his authority when he redesignated the monuments in 2021.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Tuesday, June 23, that the lawsuits may proceed, reviving challenges that a Utah federal judge dismissed in 2023.
“The district court’s conclusion misses the point,” U.S. Circuit Judge Joel M. Carson wrote for the majority. “Plaintiffs concede that the president has the authority to designate national monuments as a general matter. Instead, they argue that the president lacked authority to designate some of the ‘objects’ protected by the proclamations and that he lacked authority to increase the area previously set aside by more than two million acres.”
The state of Utah, Garfield and Kane counties, an off-road recreation nonprofit, a rancher, a miner and a Ute Mountain Ute Tribe member filed the lawsuits in 2022. They argue the Antiquities Act limits monument designations to historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest, and that monument boundaries must be limited to the smallest area necessary to protect them.
To read the full article, please see the June 25, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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