Following a presidential proclamation that shrunk Bears Ears National Monument by 90 percent and dissolved its historic Inter-Tribal Commission, the federal government is removing Tribal seals from monument entrance signs.
Following orders to disband the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Commission, the BLM has removed Tribal seals from monument signs in Utah (Photo: Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition)
Published July 23, 2026 03:42PM
Tribal signs that once surrounded the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah are disappearing.
In early July, President Trump once again slashed Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, this time reducing the size of the two protected areas in Utah by nearly 3 million acres combined, leaving them at a fraction of their originally designated sizes. Following the July 13 presidential proclamation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages the monuments, removed Tribal seals previously included on signs surrounding Bears Ears.
“When I first saw that the Bears Ears signs and Tribal seals had been removed, I just sat there with a lump in my throat. I know that to some people it may look like just a sign, but to me it represented something much bigger,” Davina Smith–Idjesa, a representative of the Navajo Nation and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, told Outside.
Five seals representing the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe were installed to symbolize the Bears Ears Commission—a federal-Tribal partnership that helped shape the monument. The seals were installed at monument signs as official emblems of Tribal sovereignty and government, and Smith-Idjesa said seeing their removal is a “physical reminder of how quickly years of relationship-building, trust, and progress can be stripped away.”
In an email to Outside, a spokesperson for the BLM said that the Bears Ears Commission was terminated under Trump’s diretive. As such, the Tribal seals have been removed.
“The BLM has begun efforts to implement the modified boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument established by President Trump on July 13, 2026. Signs at the former boundary of the monument are being removed, as well as signs with tribal seals,” a spokesperson told Outside. “The seals were a recognition of the Bears Ears Commission, which has been disbanded and terminated. The BLM will continue to consult with tribal nations in accordance with applicable laws.”
Ruben Pacheco, communications and partnerships director for the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, told Outside that community members captured the before-and-after photos near the small towns of Mexican Hat and Bluff, Utah.
“We first started hearing reports from community members that they were being removed on Tuesday, July 20. Based on what we’re seeing, the seals are being removed from signs within the new boundaries, and the signs outside the new boundaries are being removed completely,” Pacheco said.
The images were then posted on Instagram by a group of conservation groups, including the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Center for Western Priorities, Alliance for a Better Utah, Bears Ears Coalition, and Keep Parks Public.
Under his newly signed initiative, Trump reduced Bears Ears to approximately 121,000 acres and Grand Staircase–Escalante to about 182,000 acres. Previously, Bears Ears encompassed 1.36 million acres, and Grand Staircase-Escalante totaled 1.9 million acres.
The Tribes say that the BLM removal of the signs represents an administrative erasure of the Bears Ears Commission.
“Seeing those signs come down made me think about our history. Native people have seen promises broken, treaties ignored, reservation boundaries reduced, and lands taken when they held something others wanted. It made me wonder whether we are watching another version of that happen today,” Smith-Idjesa said. “Now we have watched the boundaries of Bears Ears reduced, the Bears Ears Commission terminated, the signs removed, and Tribal leadership pushed aside. That is why this hit so hard. It is not about the signs.”
Outdoor Alliance, an outdoor recreation group, used data from The Wilderness Society and trail, as well as known trail and climbing routes, to create maps showing which recreational areas within Bears Ears will be impacted.
“Shrinking these monuments by more than ninety percent doesn’t just erase lines on a map—it also attempts to erase the vision of the five tribal nations of the Bears Ears InterTribal Coalition to protect their ancestral homeland in a generous and inclusive way for the benefit of all Americans,” Adam Cramer, Outdoor Alliance CEO, told Outside.
According to Outdoor Alliance, the revised monument boundaries now exclude more than 500 miles of trail and over 1,200 climbing routes and boulder problems from Bears Ears National Monument. The new boundaries also exclude more than 230 miles of trail and over 100 climbing routes and boulder problems from nearby Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Smith-Idjesa says that the shrinking of Bears Ears boundaries doesn’t diminish ancestral responsibility and heritage.
“Removing the signs does not erase our relationship to Bears Ears. It does not erase our responsibility to this place. The Coalition Tribes will continue to carry that responsibility, no matter what signs are standing on the side of the road,” she told Outside. “Those signs represented hope.”
