The Trump administration is contemplating cuts to a half-dozen national monuments across Arizona, California, New Mexico and Utah in a bid that could open previously protected federal lands to new mining claims.
A senior Interior Department official, who was granted anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the sites are under consideration for cuts following a recent Bureau of Land Management review of areas with existing mineral withdrawals. A congressional aide, who also was granted anonymity to discuss a draft document, confirmed the targeted six sites.
The monuments proposed for cuts include two shrunk by President Donald Trump in his first term: the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. The other sites are the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon and the Ironwood Forest monuments in Arizona, the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monument in New Mexico and the Chuckwalla monument in California, according to both officials.
The Washington Post first reported the monuments under consideration for cuts.
