Led by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), 26 Senators and 92 Members of Congress filed a brief as Amici Curiae on November 19 in support of consolidated lawsuits that challenge the legality of President Trump’s executive action to reduce existing national monument designations at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in southern Utah. Barbara Pahl, senior vice president of field services for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, released a statement regarding the news:

“We commend Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) for their leadership in standing up for the original boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument and for organizing a strong show of Congressional support for maintaining the integrity of the Antiquities Act. The reduction of the Bears Ears boundaries as proposed by the Trump Administration would do grave damage to an extraordinary cultural landscape and would violate the intention of a powerful preservation tool that enables presidents to establish national monuments—not diminish them.”

The full statement may be viewed here.