Most Utahns want to protect their national monuments. Trump had other plans.

This is a public lands story, not an energy-efficiency or rebate item, so it doesn't touch home upgrades directly. Here's what happened for anyone following it out of general interest.

President Trump signed executive orders cutting Bears Ears National Monument in Utah from 1.35 million acres to about 121,000 acres, and Grand Staircase-Escalante from nearly 1.9 million acres to just over 181,500 acres — roughly 90 percent reductions each. Utah's Republican governor and congressional delegation stood with him, saying the cuts reflect what Utahns want, citing access to critical minerals like copper, nickel, and uranium in the region.

But polling tells a different story. Utah State University surveys from 2024 and 2025 found 61 percent of Utahns supported keeping Bears Ears protected, and only 26 percent favored shrinking it. A separate 2024 poll found 71 to 74 percent of Utah voters wanted both monuments kept intact. Across eight Mountain West states, a Colorado College poll found 91 percent of voters, including 87 percent of Republicans, wanted existing monuments preserved.

Trump's order also disbanded an intertribal commission that had advised on managing Bears Ears, even though a 2024 poll found most Utahns wanted tribes to keep a strong role in managing those lands. Hundreds protested the cuts outside the Utah governor's mansion this week, organized by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.