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On Thursday, the Biden administration has announced the US President Biden is reportedly to restore protections for the Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments on Friday. Point to be noted that the three monuments’ protections had been scaled back during the Trump administration. The White House issued a statement and said, “The President’s protection of these 3 national monuments is among a series of steps the Administration has taken to restore protections to some of America’s most cherished lands and waters, many of which are sacred to Tribal Nations”. The statement also cited national monument conservation as a key component of improving climate change, public health, economy, and wildlife preservation. The boundaries will be reset at the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, where they were at the end of the Obama administration in 2016.

It will also retain protections for the 11,200 acres former President Trump added to the park in 2017. The statement also said, “Restoring the Monument’s boundaries and conditions to restore its integrity, upholds efforts to honor the federal trust responsibility to Tribal Nations, and conserves these lands and waters for future generations. With this action, the total protected area of Bears Ears National Monument is 1.36 million acres”. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah will now have 1.87 million acres of protected land, the same amount it did on January 20, 2017. The White House also said that the land has many world-class geological objects of historic or scientific interest”. The White House statement also said that it is home to dinosaur fossils, Native American and pioneers’ objects, campsites, trails, and diverse soil, and wildlife.

However, Trump signed 2 presidential proclamations in 2017 that diminished the size of Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 50%. The Department of the Interior said at the time, “The move would designate the smallest area compatible with the care and management of the important objects of historic or scientific interest”. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument will again be fully protected in New England, as established by the Obama administration in 2016. As a result, commercial fishing will not be allowed, and fishing for crab and American lobster will be phased out by 2023. The White House statement added, “The Monument is composed of two units, the Canyons Unit and the Seamounts Unit, each of which showcases unique geological features that anchor vulnerable ecological communities threatened by varied uses, climate change, and related impacts”.