Patagonia sues Trump over reducing protected areas of Utah national monuments
Patagonia has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to challenge the reduction of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. The company argues that the executive order is an illegal attempt to open protected lands to extractive industries.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing legal and political battle over public land protections, environmental conservation, and corporate activism in the US.
Monument Valley in Utah, part of the Bears Ears national monument. Monument Valley in Utah, part of the Bears Ears national monument. Utah Patagonia sues Trump over reducing protected areas of Utah national monuments President’s order strips nearly 3m acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, sacred tribal sites, of safeguards
Prefer the Guardian on Google Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, has joined a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s decision to significantly reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, removing protections from nearly 3m acres.
In July, the president approved the reduction of the sites by 90%, clearing the way to open the land to oil and gas companies. He argued in his proclamations that doing so would allow lands to be “put to a higher-priority use” and that the they contained critical minerals important to “ resource independence …[and] national security.”
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