ExecutiveOrdersEO
Proc 11044ProclamationTrump 47 · R

Proclamation 11044

Modifying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

President Trump issued a proclamation drastically reducing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from approximately 1.87 million acres to about 181,541 acres, removing roughly 1.69 million acres from monument protection. The excluded lands will open to mining, mineral leasing, and other disposition 60 days after the proclamation date. The action reverses President Biden's 2021 expansion (Proclamation 10286) and reinstates a much smaller version closer to Trump's 2017 reduction, citing the Antiquities Act's "smallest area compatible" requirement and national security needs for domestic critical minerals production.

Federal Register Open PDF 91 FR 45179

Impact dates

  1. In 22d

    Excluded lands open to mining, mineral leasing, and public land disposition

  2. Secretary shall re-allocate relinquished grazing forage via new permit/lease

Market exposure

Policy exposure mapping — not investment advice. Illustrative public companies are incomplete and not recommendations.

Sectors

Critical mineralsOil & gasOther industrial

Mechanisms

Ban / prohibitionLicensing

Role pressure

  • ProtectiveDomestic producer — Proclamation explicitly opens ~1.69 million acres to mineral leasing, mining laws, and geothermal leasing, enabling domestic extraction of chromium, cobalt, copper, uranium, vanadium, and other critical minerals previously locked in monumen
  • ProtectiveProject developer — Mining and energy companies gain access to lands for location, entry, and patent under mining laws; mineral and geothermal leasing becomes available on excluded federal lands
  • MixedEquipment supplier — Mining equipment and services demand may increase if extraction proceeds, but timing depends on permitting, geology, and commodity prices; many listed minerals may not have economically viable deposits

Geographies

US

Exposure dates

  • — Excluded lands open to mining, mineral leasing, and public land disposition

Illustrative public companies

Curated watchlist matches by sector/role — incomplete; not a recommendation.

MMM3MALBAlbemarleCATCaterpillarLNGCheniere EnergyCVXChevronCOPConocoPhillipsDQDaqo New EnergyXOMExxon MobilFCXFreeport-McMoRanGEVGE VernovaHONHoneywellMPMP MaterialsSHELShellSLBSLBSPYSPDR S&P 500 ETFSQMSQMTSLATesla

Confidence: medium · Policy alerts

Key directives

  • Modify monument boundaries to approximately 181,541 acres (Canyons of the Escalante Unit and Kaiparowits Horizon Unit)
  • Exclude approximately 1.69 million acres from monument
  • Open excluded lands to entry, location, sale, mineral/geothermal leasing, and mining laws at 9:00 a.m. EDT on September 11, 2026
  • Secretary of Interior shall maintain management plan and promulgate regulations
  • Secretary shall consult with NPS and other agencies, tribes, state/local governments
  • Secretary shall prepare new transportation plan maximizing motorized/non-motorized access
  • Secretary may authorize ecological restoration and vegetation management including mechanical mastication, grazing, chemical tools
  • Secretary shall consider livestock grazing lands as traditional cultural place
  • Secretary shall re-allocate relinquished grazing permits within 1 year
  • Secretary shall endeavor to authorize grazing, recreation, timber, public access, infrastructure development

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Proclamation takes effect; boundary modification proclaimed
  • Approximately 1.69 million acres removed from monument status

Near term (90d)

  • Excluded lands open to mining, mineral leasing, and public land disposition at 9:00 a.m. EDT on September 11, 2026 (60 days after July 13, 2026)
  • Secretary of Interior must begin developing new management plan for reduced monument
  • Secretary must prepare new transportation plan for monument access

Long term

  • Livestock grazing permit reallocation required within 1 year of any voluntary relinquishment
  • Ongoing management plan implementation with emphasis on grazing, recreation, timber, and infrastructure development
  • Potential mining and mineral extraction development on excluded lands
  • Legal challenges likely to protracted litigation over Antiquities Act authority

Risks & tensions

  • Major legal vulnerability: Supreme Court has never definitively ruled whether presidents can reduce monuments; prior reductions were litigated but not fully resolved
  • Explicitly reverses Biden administration policy (Proclamation 10286), inviting political and legal backlash
  • Critical minerals rationale may conflict with actual geological economics—many listed minerals may not be economically recoverable in this region
  • BLM resource constraint argument used to justify reduction but new management obligations on reduced acreage remain
  • Tribal consultation required but monument reduction removes protections for culturally significant landscapes
  • Climate and conservation groups likely to challenge; Utah state and local officials likely to support
Proclamation 11044: Modifying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument · Executive Orders