WASHINGTON, DC — The National Wildlife Federation urged the administration today, on the one-year anniversary of its action to decimate two of Utah’s National Monuments, to restore the boundaries and protected status of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

“Americans overwhelmingly value our public lands, and yet the administration consistently proposes actions that degrade these lands’ cultural and conservation values,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “One year after the Trump Administration’s illegal rollback of two national monuments, these ancestral lands remain under attack. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management is working to lock in new management plans that will encourage energy development in areas that will irreparably harm cultural, ecological, and paleontological treasures, despite several pending court cases challenging the legality of the administration’s actions. We urge the Interior Department to reverse course and work with Native American tribes, sportsmen and women, and wildlife conservationists to ensure the cultural, historical, and habitat value of these lands are not lost forever.”