Most Utahns want to protect their national monuments. Trump had other plans.

A majority of Utah residents opposed shrinking Bears Ears National Monument before President Donald Trump reduced its size by 90 percent through executive orders. Trump and Utah’s political leaders claimed the cuts aligned with public interest, but polls showed most Utahns supported preserving the monument. Protests and legal challenges followed, with surveys indicating 61 percent of Utahns supported maintaining Bears Ears as a national monument.