The Destruction of Our Public Lands
In 2017 the Trump administration proposed oil and gas extraction just one mile outside of Zion National Park. The public got together submitted 10,000 negative comments and they withdrew their proposal. Even the governor put an emergency note to the BLM and said this is a bad idea.
Well the Trump administration is back and has been on a full hell bent tare to destroy public lands along with Mike Lee. Why? Because I believe Trump believes in nothing, holds nothing of value, cares about nothing but himself and loyalty and unless you brown nosing so hard he will throw you under the bus.
If you still believe he cares about America, Americans, and what locals want, you are being blinded by your own political beliefs.
Anyways... Lets talk about what is going on.
Escalante and Bears Ears
On July 13th 2026 Trump reduced the Grand Staircase and Bears Ears by nearly 3 million acres combined. This reduction was declared legal by the Trump administration by saying the Antiquities act give the president power to reduce these monuments at his whim (WhiteHouse.Gov). This of course is challenged as there has been no Supreme Court declaration nor has the law been updated by congress in order to clarify this statement. Currently the law states can create monuments but it does not allow the removal of monuments (Earth Justice). This kind of legal grey area makes it so presidents have added to National Monuments on occasion as it falls under the "creation" part of the law.
The thing that really gets my cookies frosted was the lie used to justify the reduction of these monuments. In the signing ceremony of the presidential order trump declared that the lands can be used for anything and "can't even be walked on" followed by my senators nodding their heads in agreement (Salt Lake Tribute Video). Just before this statement Celest Malloy saying that Utahns were opposed.
Now they are not wrong the the Utah delegates were opposed. They were and have been for as long as I can remember. But for as long as I can remember the people of Utah LOVE the monuments and every town around these monuments have used them to their great advantage for tourism. In fact the state of Utah now boldly uses them in their advertising (VisitUtah.com). So to say that the state is opposed is a blatant lie.
Now what is the plan for the land removed from the monuments? The Administration simply states multiple use and mineral extraction (WhiteHouse.gov)
What we loose- Night Sky, Wilderness, Roads not filled with huge semitrucks.
A few weeks ago I was in Escalante doing a small workshop photographing the stars. I pulled out the app "Clear Outside" and checked the night sky quality of Escalante. It is a Bortle 1. Here is what the region looks like when it comes to light pollution. It is the last place in Utah. It is one of two regions in Utah that are still Bortle 1 which is rated as true dark sky without the influence of man. If a new mine is put into this area say goodbye to this supreme darkness.
Wilderness is something that is once lost cannot be undone. Luckily much of this area is difficult to get into, but if the goal is mineral extraction becomes the goal of this region the more the quiet leaves the more vehicles show up and the essence of wilderness is lost. It is already near the breaking point as is with just hikers, but if we add an extraction industry to this landscape this area will look like Vernal.
If you have ever been to Heber Utah, you will notice something when you drive through town. Lots and lots of lots of huge semitrucks carrying oil. This is due to oil industries effect in Eastern Utah and moving oil to refineries in Salt Lake City. If you talk to residents while you are there, they all hate the road because the huge trucks on the road. If that is the fate of Highway 89, Highway 12, and Highway 24, say goodbye to the scenic highways of southern Utah and say hello to semi truck hell.
Unrestrained Government
The second Trump term has been the worlds greatest example of complacency by congress and blatant disregard of rules. For example...
- Conservation was removed from multiple use guidelines for BLM and Forest Service (Oregon Capitol Chronicle)
- White House renovation was done on a whim.. Oh Yeah if trump wanted to tear down the statue of liberty it should be allowed according to DOJ- (Politico).
- Big Bend which is a National Park is now being bulldozed to build a border wall in an area that has almost no border wall crossings. This was allowed by revoking any standard environmental protection policies and rules. (NBC News)
- The above comments about removing the Grand Staircase and Bears Ears
Now these are just the comments about land and wilderness and conservation. I didn't bring up the reflection pool, the dismantling of government agencies by Elon Musk who is neither a government official not should he have been allowed to walk into government agencies and fire people whom he is not the boss of. Nor has congress said anything about his stupid war in Iran without congressional approval. And the list could go on. It is safe to say I am blown away by my leaders who appear to have lost their spines sometime two years ago.
WhiteHouse.gov- 2026 - whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/modifying-the-grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument/
Earth Justice- 2026. earthjustice.org/feature/antiquities-act-national-monuments#president
Salt Lake Tribute Video- 2026- youtu.be/iFfokuG2OXc?t=123
VisitUtah.com- 2026. visitutah.com/places-to-go/cities-and-towns/escalante
Oregon Capitol Chronicle- 2026. oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/13/feds-officially-cancel-conservation-rule-for-public-lands/
Politico- 2026. politico.com/news/2026/06/05/white-house-ballroom-donald-trump-00951892