Blog Post

TRUMP’S LAND GRAB

July 29, 2026

Who It Harms and Why This Matters for Everyone

Jul 29, 2026

gray mountain under white cloudy sky — Photo by Nate Foong on Unsplash

Here’s the math nobody in the Oval Office is doing.

They made the economy unlivable enough that more of us live in our vehicles every year. Then they cut the rangers who keep the campgrounds safe. Then they strip the protections on the land those campgrounds sit on. Then they sell the mineral rights underneath it. And somewhere in there, the free or nearly-free places left to park a van for the night, national forest land, BLM dispersed sites, the last unfenced acres in this country, get smaller, and fewer, and closer to a drill pad.

That’s not five unrelated news stories. That’s one supply chain. And I live at the end of it.

But I’m not the only one standing at the end of it. This isn’t just a van life problem. It’s a tourist problem, a family-vacation problem, a “I wanted my kid to see a canyon that isn’t a screensaver” problem. It’s a land and water protector problem for the Indigenous communities and ancestors who were caring for this ground long before it had a federal designation attached to it. Every single one of us loses something here. We just lose different pieces of it.

“GIVING THE LAND BACK TO THE PEOPLE”

That’s what Trump called it, standing in the Oval Office on July 13, flanked by Utah’s all-Republican delegation, as he signed away nearly three million acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

Back to the people. Except the people who actually depend on that land, the Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo nations whose ancestors are the reason this land was protected in the first place, say they were never consulted, never informed, never in the room. The people who hike it, camp on it, and build small-town economies around it weren’t asked either. What’s actually happening is land moving out of public trust and toward mining claims, drilling leases, and mineral rights. “Back to the people” means back to whoever can afford to buy the extraction rights. That’s not the same people.

A REPUBLICAN WROTE THE LAW THIS IS BREAKING

Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act in 1906 so a president could protect land quickly, before industry got there first, and hold it in trust for people who hadn’t been born yet. That law lets a president create a monument. It does not clearly let a president abolish or gut one his predecessor made. That’s the exact legal fight underway right now, and it’s a Republican president’s own law being bent to do it.

A road in the middle of a desert with a mountain in the background — Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash

BEARS EARS AND GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE

The July 13 executive orders cut Bears Ears from 1.36 million acres to about 121,000, and Grand Staircase-Escalante from 1.87 million to about 181,500. That’s more than 90% gone from each. Combined, the two monuments once covered ground the size of Connecticut.

Trump claimed people could barely walk on the monuments before the cuts. That’s false. Hunting, fishing, camping, and dispersed recreation were always allowed. What wasn’t allowed was drilling, mining, and new construction. That’s what just opened up.

The orders also terminated the Bears Ears Commission, the intertribal body that co-managed the monument since 2016, after Interior promised in writing back in June 2025 to consult tribes first and never followed through. “Our Tribes were not informed of or asked about this decision,” said Autumn Gillard of the Grand Staircase Inter-Tribal Coalition.

Mark this date. At 9 a.m. Eastern on September 11, 2026 (sixty days from the signature, a clock the proclamation set itself), the roughly 1.24 million acres cut from Bears Ears reopen to mining claims, mineral entry, and geothermal leasing. Uranium claims have gone in on this exact land before, the last time it was cut in 2017. Earthjustice, the Native American Rights Fund, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance have all committed to sue. No lawsuit has been filed yet as of this writing.

THE BIGGER LEDGER

Since January 2025, this administration has eliminated protections from more than 86 million acres of U.S. public land, an area bigger than 70 Grand Canyons. A few of the line items:

Marine monuments: an executive order stripped protections from the country’s remaining Pacific and Atlantic marine national monuments, opening more than 300 million acres of protected ocean to commercial fishing.

Boundary Waters: the Senate used the Congressional Review Act (the same fast-track tool now aimed at Grand Staircase-Escalante’s management plan) to revoke a 20-year mineral withdrawal protecting Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from sulfide-ore copper mining. The Forest Service itself had already concluded that kind of mining nearby would cause irreversible harm. Congress voted to open the door anyway.

monarch butterfly perched on pink flower in close up photography during daytime — Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

WHO ELSE PAYS FOR THIS: THE SPECIES WITH NO VOTE

This month, Interior finalized a rule narrowing the legal definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, removing habitat degradation from what counts as harming a species. You can kill a species slowly by destroying where it lives, without technically “harming” it under the new definition. A second proposal would eliminate the “blanket rule” that currently extends most endangered-species protections automatically to threatened species. Species already sitting in that gap:

Florida manatee: loses automatic protection from boat strikes and coastal development
Alligator snapping turtle: among roughly thirty species currently caught without automatic safety measures
Monarch butterfly: proposed for threatened status; its migratory pathway would go unmonitored without the blanket rule
Wolverine: a rare, threatened carnivore whose habitat protections depend directly on the rules now being rolled back
Clover’s cactus and Aztec gilia: rare desert flora that exist only in specific western micro-climates; under the new rules, developers can legally bulldoze their habitat as long as the plants themselves aren’t intentionally destroyed

These aren’t abstractions. They’re the neighbors we share this land with, and they don’t get a lawyer or a lawsuit. We’re the only ones who can advocate for them.

WHO’S SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING ALL OF THIS

Nobody fully staffed, because there isn’t one. Since January 2025, the National Park Service has lost close to a quarter of its permanent workforce, over 4,000 people, to firings, a hiring freeze, pressured resignations, and buyout programs. Backcountry rescue and emergency response times have slowed. Wildlife monitoring and anti-poaching patrols have been cut back just to keep the front gates open. The 2027 budget proposal calls for another 25% cut to park operations on top of what’s already gone.

This is the system that’s supposed to be protecting 4,700 archaeological sites at Chaco Canyon, next.

CHACO CANYON

A federal order has kept a 10-mile buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park off-limits to oil and gas leasing for twenty years, 336,400 acres holding some of the most significant Indigenous cultural sites in North America. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum promised Congress in June 2025 he’d send someone with real authority to consult every tribe with a stake in Chaco before any decision got made. Acoma Pueblo leadership says that still hasn’t happened. “Consultation is not a briefing,” their spokesperson said. “It is not a meeting where we are told what has already been decided.” BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has now proposed revoking the buffer entirely, with a 14-day public comment period running over cultural and religious observance dates, through an online-only portal.

Public comment link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/Project-Home/?id=D949F582-402D-F111-8341-001DD804183B

bridge near body of water during daytime — Photo by Jason Brower on Unsplash

THE STRAITS OF MACKINAC

Two days before the Bears Ears cuts, Michigan’s EGLE and DNR approved permits clearing the way for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, sacred water to the Anishinaabe people. EGLE’s own review acknowledged construction is likely to destroy or displace historic and cultural resources, including the remains of tribal ancestors. They approved it anyway. Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle called Enbridge’s promised mitigation plan exactly what it is: false penitence. “We have had our land taken, we have had our rights taken, we have had our language taken, we have had our children taken,” she said.

If this sounds familiar, it should. I wrote about EGLE’s environmental oversight fights in “I Called It,” where a state senator fought PFAS testing mandates that had stalled harbor dredging, and 3M successfully argued in the Michigan Court of Appeals that EGLE had violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Same agency, same pattern. The science says wait, industry says move, and the agency finds a way to let industry move.

Whitmer has final authority over both EGLE and the DNR. She campaigned in 2018 on opposing this exact pipeline. Michigan’s Supreme Court still has a separate Line 5 permit challenge pending from four Tribal Nations and two environmental groups.

THE CAMP THAT CLOSED

“Alligator Alcatraz” is gone now. DeSantis announced its closure in late June, citing zero remaining detainees; it was fully dismantled by mid-July. Environmental groups are still in court trying to force full remediation of the wetland it sat on. It was built inside Big Cypress National Preserve, on land where the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes hold federally recognized use and occupancy rights. The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution calling to prohibit using Indian Country as a venue for internment or detention camps, drawing the line themselves back to Japanese internment camps built on tribal land during World War II. That comparison is theirs, on the record. The camp is gone because it did its political job and hurricane season made it a liability. The land it damaged, and the precedent it set, don’t close down with it.

AND THEN HE PUT HIS FACE ON THE WAY IN

Every 2026 America the Beautiful annual pass, the one you need to enter the parks that are still standing, features Trump’s face next to George Washington’s, instead of the usual nature photo chosen through a public contest. The Interior Department has warned it will void passes that get stickered over. The Center for Biological Diversity is suing, calling it a violation of the law requiring the pass to feature a public-lands photo contest winner. One longtime pass holder described it best: it’s like a mug shot slapped onto natural beauty.

That’s about right. Having to hand that card over every time you want to walk into land that’s supposed to belong to all of us is a little like having to stare at a photo of your abuser every time you need to be let in somewhere.

WHAT THIS ACTUALLY COSTS

The free or nearly-free places left to park a van, pitch a tent, or just exist outside without a fee attached, those exist because this country decided, over a century ago, that some land should stay held in common instead of sold to the highest bidder. Every acre stripped of protection is an acre closer to a lease, a claim, a fence, or a “no overnight parking” sign. Every ranger position cut means a slower response if something goes wrong out there alone. This isn’t a coincidence sitting next to an economy that pushes more of us into our vehicles every year. It’s the next step in the same system: make housing unlivable, then start closing the door on the fallback.

This was never about giving land back to “the people.” It was about which people get asked, and which people find out after the fact, the same way you did, reading this.

The wheels of justice move slow. The damage doesn’t wait on the courts. The mining claims file at 9 a.m. Eastern whether or not a lawsuit has landed by then.

We’re paying attention. That has to be step one. It can’t be the only one.

violet and white Act Now sign — Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

TAKE ACTION

Script 1, Line 5 Tunnel / EGLE Oversight (Michigan residents, aimed at Governor Whitmer)

CALL: Constituent line, (517) 335-7858, or main switchboard, (517) 373-3400, for general/non-constituent inquiries

“Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [CITY/COUNTY]. I’m calling about EGLE and DNR’s approval of permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. EGLE’s own review found this project is likely to destroy tribal ancestral remains and historic cultural resources, and approved it anyway. As governor, Whitmer has final authority over EGLE and DNR. I’m asking her to use that authority to reverse course, honor Michigan’s treaty obligations to Tribal Nations, and protect the Great Lakes from another Enbridge disaster. Thank you.”

EMAIL: State of Michigan Contact Form (michigan.gov)

MAIL: Governor Gretchen Whitmer, P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, Michigan 48909

Subject: Reverse the Line 5 Tunnel Permit Approval

“Governor Whitmer,

I’m writing as a Michigan resident to ask you to use your authority over EGLE and DNR to reverse the recent approval of permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel. EGLE’s own review acknowledged this project is likely to destroy or displace historic and cultural resources, including tribal ancestral remains. Approving it anyway fails Michigan’s trust and treaty obligations to the Sault Tribe, Bay Mills Indian Community, and other Tribal Nations who have opposed this project for years.

The Straits of Mackinac are sacred water and the heart of the Great Lakes. I’m asking you to stand with Tribal Nations and the coalition of environmental and legal organizations opposing this tunnel, not with Enbridge.

[NAME] [CITY, MI]”

Script 2, Endangered Species Act Rollbacks (general, customize to your representative)

FIND YOUR REPS FIRST: Members of Congress don’t use public email addresses. You’ll need their secure contact form, which requires your address to confirm you’re a constituent.

House: house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative. Enter your ZIP, click the envelope icon under your rep’s photo.
Senate: senate.gov/senators/contact. Select your state, click “Contact” under each senator’s name.
State/local reps: openstates.org or ballotpedia.org/Who_represents_me

CALL your Senators and Representative, Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121, staffed operators available during business hours, line open 24/7. Ask to be connected by name, or give your city and state.

“Hi, my name is [NAME], I’m a constituent from [CITY, STATE]. I’m calling to urge [REP/SENATOR NAME] to oppose the Interior Department’s rollback of Endangered Species Act protections, specifically the narrowed definition of ‘harm’ and the proposed elimination of the ‘blanket rule’ for threatened species. These changes strip habitat protections from species like the Florida manatee, monarch butterfly, and alligator snapping turtle. I’m asking [him/her/them] to push back on these rules and support restoring full ESA protections. Thank you.”

EMAIL:

Subject: Oppose ESA Rollbacks, Protect Threatened Species

“Dear [REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR],

I’m writing as your constituent to urge you to oppose the Interior Department’s recent and proposed changes to Endangered Species Act regulations, including the narrowed definition of ‘harm’ finalized this month and the proposed elimination of the ‘blanket rule’ protecting threatened species.

These changes remove habitat destruction from what legally counts as harming a species, and would strip automatic protections from species including the Florida manatee, monarch butterfly, alligator snapping turtle, and wolverine. Please use your office to push back on these rollbacks and support full restoration of ESA protections.

Sincerely, [NAME] [CITY, STATE]”

Script 3, National Monument / Public Lands Cuts (general, customize to your representative)

FIND YOUR REPS: same directories as above, house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and senate.gov/senators/contact. Keep it brief, name the specific issue in your first two sentences, and state exactly what you want them to do.

CALL your Senators and Representative, Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

“Hi, my name is [NAME], I’m a constituent from [CITY, STATE]. I’m calling about the administration’s cuts to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, and the broader pattern of stripping protections from over 86 million acres of public land since January 2025. I’m asking [REP/SENATOR NAME] to support legislation and oversight action to restore these protections, fund tribal consultation properly, and stop opening protected land to mining and drilling without the consultation the law requires. Thank you.”

EMAIL:

Subject: Restore Protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Public Lands

“Dear [REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR],

I’m writing to ask you to oppose the administration’s ongoing rollback of public lands protections, including the July 2026 cuts to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments and the termination of the Bears Ears Commission’s tribal co-management authority. These cuts were made without the government-to-government consultation Tribal Nations are legally owed, and open protected land to mining as soon as September 11, 2026.

Please support oversight and legislative action to restore these monument boundaries, require real tribal consultation going forward, and protect the remaining public lands, including national forests, BLM land, and dispersed camping areas, that families, tourists, and Tribal Nations all depend on.

Sincerely, [NAME] [CITY, STATE]”