Utah voters show support for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in recent poll

Photo: Tim Peterson.

Utah voters from both sides of the political spectrum support national monuments and the president’s power to create national monuments, according to a recent survey conducted by the public opinion research firm New Bridge Strategy.

The poll, commissioned by the Grand Canyon Trust, included 500 registered voters from across Utah.

According to the survey results, 71% of voters support Bears Ears as a national monument and 74% support Grand Staircase-Escalante as a national monument.

Support was highest among Democrats, with 94% supporting Bears Ears and 96% supporting Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Protecting federal land

The survey results also found that 87% of Utah voters have visited national public lands in the past year and more than one-third have visited five or more times in the past year.

“Given all that time outside, enjoying and connecting with national public lands, it’s not surprising that Utahns feel strongly about protecting these lands,” wrote Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director, on the Grand Canyon Trust website.

Both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments were created by a president exercising power under the Antiquities Act. Grand Staircase-Escalante was established in 1996 by President Bill Clinton and Bears Ears was established by President Barack Obama in 2016 in collaboration with the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

Both monuments have faced Republican backlash. President Donald Trump shrunk the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears in 2017 (the original boundaries were restored in 2021 by President Joe Biden).

According to the Antiquities Act, presidents have the power to create national monuments, but the power to take away that designation rests with Congress.

According to the Grand Canyon Trust poll, 75% of Utah voters support presidents’ ability to protect public lands as national monuments, including 98% of Democrats, 82% of Independents, and 65% of Republicans.

Protecting ancestral landscapes

National monuments serve to protect unique landscapes as well as native ancestral lands. The creation of Bears Ears was historic, as it was the first time Native American tribes successfully advocated for the protection of their lands as a national monument.

89% of survey participants answered it is very important for Native American tribes to have a strong role in managing their ancestral lands. 81% said the next administration should keep the agreement with tribes regarding how Bears Ears is managed.

Public lands supporters are speculating that the incoming second Trump administration might move to once again cut national monuments as they did in 2017, according to Peterson.

“This survey demonstrates that public support for monuments remains strong across the political spectrum,” writes Peterson. “Any attempt to attack the monuments would therefore be out of step with what Utah voters want and deeply unpopular in the state.”

In a news conference earlier today, Charissa Miijessepe-Wilson, co-director for the nonprofit Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said that the poll results are encouraging for the future of the monuments. She also reported that tribal management leaders are meeting with federal officials to discuss protections for the Bears Ears landscape.