Environmental groups and Native American tribes wasted no time in filing lawsuits to stop the Trump administration's vast cuts to two Utah national monuments. Filing suit on Tuesday were five Native American tribes, including The Navajo Nation, Native American Rights Fund, which represents the Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe. The suit comes just a day after President Trump signed proclamations reducing the size of the Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by half.
“President Trump’s decision, like many of his other decisions, demonstrates that this administration has a reckless disregard for the Constitution and the limits that it places on federal power,” said Justin Pidot, counsel to the Native American Rights Fund, during a conference call with reporters.
Pidot said they will argue that under the U.S. Constitution, the president doesn't have the right to undo designations made under the Antiquities Act, that’s the job of Congress.
Charles Wilkinson, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, said the tribal group is confident they’ll have no trouble showing that thousands of sites would lose protections as a result of Trump’s order.
“If Secretary Zinke said there aren’t objects in the area taken out of the monument, I would say with all due respect that that is laughable,' he said.
Coalition representatives said they’ll call for a temporary injunction only if necessary.
Tribal groups are not alone on the list of those filing lawsuits.
Drew Caputo is an attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm. He said environmental and Native American groups had plenty of time to prepare their response to reports of dramatic reductions at the monuments.
"This is a really important site. I actually cannot believe that we're having a debate about whether these lands are worth protecting," said Caputo. "They're not sort of valuable lands, they're among the most valuable lands in the federal system and they belong to all of us."
Joining Earthjustice are Utah-based nonprofits like the Friends of Cedar Mesa and the Grand Canyon Trust. Outdoor retailer Patagonia also signaled it would file suit this week.