Tribal · Bluff, UT
Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
The five-Tribe coalition that petitioned for the monument and shared in managing it until the July 2026 proclamation disbanded the Bears Ears Commission
Founded 2015
Stand · Find your defenders
Who’s defending Bears Ears?
1 case live in federal court over this place, filed 2017National monument in Utah, managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, designated in 2016.
The defenders
The groups doing the most work here
9 groups are on the record for Bears Ears, each tied to it by a source our editors read, in the order they carry the weight. Give directly; nothing routes through us.
Leading the fight
Tribal · Salt Lake City, UT
Utah Diné Bikéyah
The Native-led nonprofit whose cultural mapping work built the original monument proposal
5 staff67¢ to the workFounded 2012
On the ground
Friends Group · Bluff, UT
Bears Ears Partnership
Formerly Friends of Cedar Mesa; works in Bluff on stewardship, education and Indigenous collaborative management to protect the Bears Ears region’s cultural and ecological resources
17 staff + 101 volunteers83¢ to the workFounded 2010
Grassroots · Salt Lake City, UT
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Utah’s wilderness watchdog, defending these canyons since long before the monument existed
39 staff + 338 volunteers92¢ to the workFounded 1983
Advocacy · Flagstaff, AZ
Grand Canyon Trust
Colorado Plateau advocate and a party to the monument boundary litigation
48 staff + 210 volunteers70¢ to the workFounded 1985
Also in the fight
Advocacy · Washington, DC
The Wilderness Society
Co-plaintiff in the litigation over the 2017 monument reduction
1 live federal case over this place
178 staff + 32 volunteers75¢ to the workFounded 1935
Legal · Hailey, ID
Western Watersheds Project
Plaintiff, represented by Earthjustice, in the suit filed September 2, 2026 to reopen the 2017 monument case and challenge the July 2026 proclamation that cut Bears Ears by more than 90 percent
18 staff85¢ to the workFounded 1993
Advocacy · Durango, CO
Conservation Lands Foundation
Backs the local groups defending national monuments across the West
26 staff79¢ to the workFounded 2007
Legal · San Francisco, CA
Earthjustice
Counsel in the federal litigation over the monument’s boundaries
698 staff + 33 volunteers81¢ to the workFounded 1971
14 more work nearby but are not tied to Bears Ears on the record
On the ground in Utah
More ways in
Bryce Canyon Natural History AssociationThey work only in UtahFriends GroupCapitol Reef Natural History AssociationThey work only in UtahFriends GroupZion National Park Forever ProjectThey work only in UtahFriends GroupNOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School)Their work includes national parksStewardshipWestern Values ProjectTheir work includes national parksWatchdogHonor the EarthTheir work includes national parksTribalIntertribal Buffalo CouncilTheir work includes national parksTribalSovereign EnergyTribal-ledTribalWildEarth GuardiansWorking this regionLegalWestern National Parks AssociationWorking this regionFriends GroupAdvocates for the WestWorking this regionLegal
The situation
What’s happening to Bears Ears
Sacred to five tribal nations for thousands of years, Bears Ears catalyzed a national movement for Indigenous-led conservation. On July 13, 2026 a presidential proclamation cut the monument by roughly 91 percent, from 1.36 million acres down to about 121,096 acres, and disbanded the five-tribe Bears Ears Commission that co-managed it. About 1.24 million acres of sacred red rock canyon country lose protection and reopen to mineral and geothermal leasing and mining, for the silver, copper, uranium, vanadium, and other minerals the proclamation names. The tribes say they were never consulted. The 2017 challenge to the earlier cut, Wilderness Society v. Trump, stayed since 2021, is being reopened: motions to lift the stay were filed in September 2026, and Utah and the federal defendants answered on September 16.
- 2016Designated as national monument by President Obama
- 2017Reduced by 85% under executive order
- 2021Boundaries restored by President Biden
- 2025Monument protections under renewed review
- 2026Proclamation 11043 cuts monument to ~121,096 acres, disbands tribal commissionFederal Register (91 FR 45169) · July 13, 2026
- 2026Excluded lands reopen to mineral leasing and mining (60 days after signing)White House fact sheet · July 13, 2026
- 2026Motions to reopen the 2017 challenge and lift its stay draw responses from Utah and the federal defendants (D.D.C. 1:17-cv-02587)
No public comment window is open on Bears Ears right now. A call script is ready on the Public Lands Action Network, and the groups above are how the fight gets funded and argued in the meantime.
In the courts
The cases over this place
The dockets we track that name Bears Ears directly. Active first.
Our reporting
What we’ve published on Bears Ears
Your move
How to stand for Bears Ears
GiveGive to Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Their donation page ↗SpeakCall your representativesA ready call script on Bears Ears, plus any comment window as it opens.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowFollow the monumentBears Ears tracked as it moves through the courts and the agencies. Alerts when it matters.
Monument WatchBuild my lineup around Bears Ears: the leading group here opens it, and the other seats fill from this record.
Bears Ears has defenders. It needs more.
9 groups on the record, 1 live case in federal court. That is who is holding it. Find your way in.