Utah Monuments At Risk of Looting and Mining

Hundreds of thousands of acres of land will be more vulnerable to looting, vandalism, mining, coal and oil extraction after President Donald Trump slashed protections for two Utah monuments on Monday.

Trump announced Monday at the Utah State Capitol that Bears Ears National Monument will be reduced to 228,784 acres from 1.35 millions acres into two separate areas called Shash Jáa Navajo and Indian Creek. A second monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante, will be reduced to half its current size and split into three separate chunks. Bears Ears was designated as a National Monument under the Obama administration last , just before his second term as president ended. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated as such in by former President Bill Clinton.