The Latest on President Donald Trump's plan to shrink two national parks in Utah (all times local): 
 
 6:30 p.m. 
 
 Outdoor company Patagonia has sued to block President Donald Trump's cuts to Utah's Bears Ears National Monument. 
 
 Patagonia's lawsuit was filed Wednesday night, becoming the fourth legal challenge after Trump announced Monday he would shrink Bear Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. 
 
 The California-based company argues shrinking the monument by 85 percent is an "extreme overreach in authority" and strips much-needed protections from sacred tribal lands. It filed the suit on behalf of several organizations. 
 
 The lawsuit came after Patagonia replaced its usual home page with a stark message, "The President Stole Your Land." 
 
 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke shot back by saying the claim is "nefarious, false and a lie." 
 
 A coalition of five tribes has also sued to preserve Bears Ears. Two lawsuits have been filed to protect Grand Staircase. 
 
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 1:54 a.m. 
 
 More lawsuits are expected Wednesday over the Trump administration's plans to shrink several national monuments. 
 
 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and outdoor retail giant Patagonia traded harsh words Tuesday — an opening salvo in an imminent legal battle that could last for years. 
 
 On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered drastic reductions to Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Three lawsuits had been filed by Tuesday night. 
 
 Trump said he was reversing federal overreach by drastically cutting the sprawling monuments named by Democratic presidents. But tribal leaders, environmentalists and others argue the president doesn't have that authority and his move jeopardizes a wealth of Native American artifacts, dinosaur fossils and rugged spaces. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated / Source: Associated Press 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and outdoor retail giant Patagonia traded harsh words over the Trump administration's plans to shrink several national monuments, an opening salvo in an imminent legal battle that could be waged for years. 
 
 A barrage of lawsuits is expected by groups looking to block President Donald Trump's order on Monday drastically reducing Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Three lawsuits had been filed by Tuesday night, with more expected Wednesday. 
 
 Trump said he was reversing federal overreach by drastically cutting the sprawling monuments named by Democratic presidents. But tribal leaders, environmentalists and others argue the president doesn't have that authority and his move jeopardizes a wealth of Native American artifacts, dinosaur fossils and rugged spaces. 
 
 Patagonia, which is expected to file a lawsuit by Wednesday, replaced its usual home page with a stark message, "The President Stole Your Land."The California-based company called Trump's actions illegal and described Monday's action as the largest elimination of protected land in American history. 
 
 Zinke shot back, calling that "nefarious, false and a lie." He told reporters that the land targeted by Trump remains protected because it is still under federal control. 
 
 "I understand fundraising for these special interest groups," Zinke said. "I think it's shameful and appalling that they would blatantly lie in order to gain money in their coffers." 
 
 Related: Trump cutting national monuments sets up environmental showdown 
 
 Outdoor retailer REI also criticized Trump but in less harsh language. 
 
 Zinke took a defiant tone in a conference call with reporters, saying, "I don't yield to pressure, only higher principle. And sound public policy is not based on threats of lawsuits, it's doing what's right." 
 
 Patagonia has "always viewed public lands as our special interest," said company spokeswoman Corley Kenna. "And it's odd that Ryan Zinke has no problem with special interests when they're paying for his private jets. We have been fighting for these lands for decades, so that hunters, fishers, hikers and everyone else can use them and help us protect them." 
 
 A full moon sets behind Cedar Mesa, which is within Bears Ears National Monument, near Mexican Hat, Utah on Nov. 14, 2016. Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA file 
 
 Patagonia's statements follow more than a year of the company's activism on the issue, which is not the only time the retailer has stepped in a debate over Utah's public lands. The company joined with REI and other outdoor recreation companies in leading a push to move the industry's lucrative trade show from Salt Lake City to Denver after two decades in Utah. The move was a high-profile protest over Utah leaders' insistence on getting the Bears Ears designation rescinded and trying to take more control of federal lands. 
 
 Zinke argued that Bears Ears is still larger than Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks combined even after being downsized to about 202,000 acres while Grand Staircase-Escalante retains about 1 million acres. 
 
 Environmental and conservation groups and a coalition of tribes filed lawsuits Monday that ensure Trump's announcement is far from the final word in the yearslong battle over public lands in Utah and other Western states. The court cases are likely to drag on for years. 
 
 A coalition of the Hopi, Ute Indian, Ute Mountain Ute, Zuni tribes and Navajo Nation sued late Monday to challenge the Bears Ears reduction, which cuts monument status for the rugged land in southeastern Utah by about 85 percent. Bears Ears features thousands of Native American artifacts, including ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. 
 
 The tribes argue that federal law only gives presidents the ability to create a national monument, not the ability to downsize one. 
 
 Two lawsuits also have been filed to try to block the Grand Staircase decision, which cuts the monument nearly in half. Grand Staircase contains scenic cliffs, canyons, waterfalls and arches — and one of the nation's largest known coal reserves. 
 
 The two monuments were created by Democrats Barack Obama and Bill Clinton under a century-old law that allows presidents to protect sites considered historically, geographically or culturally important. 
 
 Trump acted on a recommendation by Zinke, who also has urged that two other large national monuments in the West be reduced in size, potentially opening up thousands of acres of land revered for natural beauty and historical significance to mining, logging and other development. 
 
 The interior secretary's plan would scale back Nevada's Gold Butte and Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou, in addition to the two Utah sites. 
 
 Zinke said Tuesday he would focus changes in Gold Butte on the site's water districts. Gold Butte protects nearly 300,000 acres of desert landscapes featuring rock art, sandstone towers and wildlife habitat for the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise and other species. 
 
 Zinke declined to specify how many acres he wants to remove from monument status, stressing that the administration is working with Nevada's governor and congressional delegation to find a solution. ||||| The message Patagonia blared across its website Monday was stark and clear: “The President Stole Your Land,” it read. 
 
 The declaration is the outdoor apparel company’s opening salvo in a PR and legal battle against President Trump’s shrinking of two Utah national monuments. Patagonia said the move was “illegal” and constituted the “largest elimination of protected land in American history.” 
 
 On Monday, President Donald Trump announced the rollback of Obama and Clinton-era federal land protections that will reduce the size of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah by 85% and halve the size of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante. 
 
 Speaking in Salt Lake City Monday, Trumps said the move reverses “federal overreach” and will return control of land to local authorities and citizens. But Native American and environmental protection groups fear removing federal protections paves the way for environmentally destructive corporate activities on land of archaeological significance. 
 
 The company Patagonia—which already campaigns to protect swathes of the eponymous wilds in Argentina and Chile—said it would file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration in partnership with local community and environmental groups. 
 
 “Americans have overwhelmingly spoken out against the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attempt to shut down our national monuments,” Patagonia President and CEO Rose Marcario said in a statement, according to AdAge. “We’ve fought to protect these places since we were founded and now we’ll continue that fight in the courts.” 
 
 Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit hours after Trump’s speech Monday. Earthjustice, which filed on behalf of ten groups including the Wilderness Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council, challenges the reduction of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument, according to AP. A coalition of Native American tribes also said it would sue the Trump Administration over the reduction of the Bears Ears Monument. ||||| If only the sandstones could sing, imagine the stories they'd tell, of dinosaurs, mammoth hunters and the "ancient ones" known as the Anasazi. 
 
 All roamed southern Utah over the eons, long before Native Americans struggled to hold their land against Mormon settlers, modern life and now, Donald Trump. 
 
 As the President arrives in Utah Monday afternoon, this rocky corner of the Wild West is a battlefield once again, but this time the warriors will carry briefcases and lawsuits. 
 
 Trump, by signing two presidential proclamations on Monday, shrunk the size of Bears Ears National Monument by more than 80% and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by roughly 45%, fundamentally reshaping the two large national monuments. 
 
 The proclamations split the two national monuments into several smaller sections. Bears Ears will be shrunk from 1.35 million acres to 228,337 acres, according to the spokesperson for Interior, and split into two separate monument sections. Grand Staircase-Escalante, a monument designated by President Bill Clinton, will be split into three sections and shrunk from 1.9 million acres to just about 1 million acres. 
 
 Trump slammed past administrations -- namely Clinton's and President Barack Obama's -- for what he called "federal overreach." The two former Democratic president designated Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante for protection, hoping to preserve their culture, history and natural beauty. 
 
 Past administrations, Trump said, thought "the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful of very distant bureaucrats located in Washington. And guess what? They are wrong." 
 
 "The families and communities of Utah know and love this land the best and you know the best how to take care of your land," Trump said. "You know how to protect it. And you know best how to conserve this land for many, many generations to come." 
 
 President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore pose at the edge of the Grand Canyon, during the signing of a proclamation establishing Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 
 
 Locals in the area saw the designations as nothing more than a 3-million-acre federal land grab. The drillers, miners and frackers who were shut out by Clinton's and Obama's use of the Antiquities Ac t would have new leases on life. Sen. Orrin Hatch and his fellow Utah Republicans would have a major victory to celebrate. 
 
 Hoodoos are among the natural wonders in Bears Ears National Monument. 
 
 But those who believe the rocks can talk, through countless fossils, sacred ruins and desert solitude, are bracing for a fight. 
 
 "I'm going to sue him," says Yvon Chouinard, founder and CEO of outdoor gear maker Patagonia. "It seems the only thing this administration understands is lawsuits. I think it's a shame that only 4% of American lands are national parks. Costa Rica's got 10%. Chile will now have way more parks than we have. We need more, not less. This government is evil and I'm not going to sit back and let evil win." 
 
 Chouinard led the effort to move a major outdoor show from Salt Lake City to Denver in protest of Utah's land use politics and he's been a big supporter of the historic coalition of the five local tribes, which put aside ancient rivalries and lobbied for monument protection. 
 
 Outdoor retailer Patagonia also lent its voice in opposition to the move Monday, setting the home page of Patagonia.com to a blacked-out page that says, "The President Stole Your Land," with the option to learn more about "the largest elimination of protected land in American history." 
 
 The site also gave visitors the option to support groups that are pushing back. 
 
 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he was unmoved by people like Chouinard who are threatening lawsuits. 
 
 "I don't yield to pressure, only higher principle," he said. "And I don't think public policy should be based on the threat of lawsuit ... I feel very confident." 
 
 San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman says the designation of Bears Ears as a national monument never felt right. 
 
 But Chouinard's arguments carry no sway at a pro-Trump, anti-monument rally in Monticello. Here, Chouinard represents all the liberal interests from outside, conspiring to pit neighbor against neighbor. "What's his net worth? One billion dollars? Two billion?" says San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman. "You got Patagonia in here waving the flag of environmentalism while he's completely exploiting the outdoors for industrialized tourism. For a person in that position to try and lecture morality to one of the poorest counties in the entire nation is wrong." 
 
 There has been opposition to Bears Ears as a monument since it was designated. 
 
 The size of New Jersey, San Juan is the biggest and poorest county in Utah and with this moment of political victory, Lyman finds kinship with the coal miners of Appalachia. 
 
 He points out that Bears Ears is the fifth national park or monument in his county and argues that oil and gas extraction would have less impact on the landscape than the brand of adventure tourism that has transformed nearby Moab. "By designating a monument, you are using a tool that will bring hordes of people to a place that is very sensitive," he says. 
 
 Mark Maryboy walks in Bears Ears, home to generations of his ancestors. 
 
 But according to former county commissioner and Navajo elder Mark Maryboy, cultural sensitivity is hard to find in San Juan County. "They didn't want to work with us," he says. "In fact, one of the county commissioners told me 'You guys lost the war so you have no business talking about the land planning process.'" 
 
 With efficient strides, he drops into a canyon near the San Juan River, past one of the 100,000 sacred ruins in Bears Ears, to a wall covered in 1,200-year old rock art. The spindly renderings of man and animal are the work of an artist they've dubbed "Wolfman" for the paw print signature that accompanies the pictoglyphs. And then he points out the modern bullet holes. 
 
 Ancient rock art is pockmarked by bullet holes. 
 
 To his Navajo faith, this canyon holds the spirits of his loved ones and these carvings are just as sacred as any art in the Vatican or any wall in Jerusalem, yet someone has been using it for target practice. 
 
 "The local white community members are determined to get rid of all the art rock," he says. "It stands in the way of progress for them. It stands in the way of a job. New cars. New clothes. Rolex watch." 
 
 He's heard the argument that his people need jobs and that the extraction industry could provide them while protecting the most important sites. 
 
 Native Americans built grain stores and other structures in what is now southern Utah. 
 
 But, he feels, history hasn't shown that to be true. 
 
 "The experience that Native Americans see in this county is discrimination," he says. "They are the last ones to be hired for any position. Even if there's a huge mining operation opening up, they will not be hired for that position. And they will be exposed to the toxic materials that are left on the ground or in the air." 
 
 Regardless of Trump's decision and unless Utah politicians can figure out a way to take them back and sell them off, the 3 million acres around Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will remain public. 
 
 If you are an American, this is your land and these are your rocks. Pay them a visit sometime. You'll be amazed at the stories they tell. ||||| Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith ZinkeOvernight Energy: Watchdog to issue report on special EPA hiring powers | Exxon loses climate case in Massachusetts court | Park service backlog under scrutiny New Zealand bans offshore drilling to combat climate change Overnight Energy: Former Pruitt aide alleges more wasteful spending, retaliation | Senate confirms EPA No. 2 | Zinke backs off big park fee increases MORE fired back at outdoor retailer Patagonia on Tuesday, calling it "shameful" for recreation companies to "blatantly lie" in saying President Trump's decision to shrink the Bears Ears national monument violated the law. 
 
 Zinke slammed the popular outfitting company for claiming on its website that "The President Stole Your Land," a move the company claimed was "illegal." 
 
 "I understand fundraising for these special interest groups, but I think its shameful and appalling that they would blatantly lie in order to put money in their coffers," Zinke told reporters. 
 
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 Trump's Monday order to shrink both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by roughly 1 million acres each would be the largest retraction of publicly owned lands in U.S. history, which Patagonia also noted on its website. 
 
 "You mean Patagonia made in China? This is an example of a special interest," Zinke said Tuesday. 
 
 "What one square inch was stolen? The federal state remains intact," he continued, noting the enormous size of the Utah monument, which has more square acreage than both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks combined. 
 
 Trump has branded the decision as a fight against federal overreach, a sentiment held by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchOvernight Health Care: New Jersey lawmakers pass ObamaCare mandate | Dems sound warning on short-term insurance plans | Poll finds majority back single payer Key senators warn Trump of North Korea effort on Syria Overnight Health Care: Opioid distributors summoned before Congress | Judge sets trial date in massive opioid lawsuit | Senators press DOJ to stop blocking medical marijuana MORE (R) since before President Obama designated the Bears Ears monument in the last month of his presidency. 
 
 Patagonia announced it will sue the administration over the decision, after previously threatening legal action over the administration's initial order for the Interior Department to review the monuments created during the last three presidencies. The Grand-Staircase monument was created in 1996 under former President Clinton. 
 
 "Secretary Zinke's definition of a special interest is someone who hasn't flown him around on a private jet. We have been fighting for these lands for decades, so that hunters, fishers, hikers and everyone else can use them and help us protect them," Patagonia spokeswoman Corley Kenna told The Hill on Tuesday. ||||| Washington • President Donald Trump plans to visit Utah in December to announce that he will trim the boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, a move that is likely to spur an instant court battle. 
 
 Trump, after meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke earlier Friday, called Sen. Orrin Hatch to tell him that he has decided to change the designations that Hatch, the Utah delegation and state officials have been pushing. 
 
 “ I’m approving the Bears Ears recommendation for you, Orrin,” the president told the Utah Republican in a phone call, according to Hatch’s office. 
 
 White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to detail what Trump and Zinke discussed but confirmed the president would go in person to Utah soon. 
 
 “ I will not get ahead of the president’s announcement on the specifics of that, but I can tell you he will be going to Utah in the first part of early December, and we will be releasing more details at that point,” she said at the press briefing, noting that Trump spoke with Hatch and fellow Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. 
 
 It was unclear what exactly Trump would approve, though Zinke has suggested the president shrink the boundaries of the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah that President Barack Obama named shortly before leaving office last year at the request of five American Indian tribes. 
 
 
 
 According to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Trump told him Friday that changes to Bears Ears would “honor” what the state has recommended. During Zinke’s monuments review this year, Utah officials advocated contracting the monument to a 120,000-acre area stretching from Bears Ears Buttes across Mule Canyon to the Butler Wash ruins on Comb Ridge. 
 
 “I appreciate the president and the secretary’s efforts to listen to local concerns and seek a balance when it comes to the complex issues of managing and protecting our public lands,” Herbert said in statement. “ ... Our recommendations have been, first, that any new boundaries protect the extraordinary antiquities within these areas. Second, that local Native Americans be given meaningful co-management of the lands in the Bears Ears region. And, finally, that Congress be urged to pass appropriate protections for federal lands throughout southern Utah.” 
 
 Zinke, as ordered by Trump, had reviewed all monuments declared under the Antiquities Act since January 1996 and recommended changes to several, including the 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is also in southern Utah and was set aside by then-President Bill Clinton. 
 
 Hatch said in a statement that he was “incredibly grateful” for Trump’s decision. 
 
 “ We believe in the importance of protecting these sacred antiquities, but Secretary Zinke and the Trump administration rolled up their sleeves to dig in, talk to locals, talk to local tribes and find a better way to do it,” Hatch said in a statement. “We’ll continue to work closely with them moving forward to ensure Utahns have a voice.” 
 
 Approached by reporters at an event in Salt Lake City on Friday, Hatch said Trump “told me Bears Ears would be the way I said it should be,” though he offered no specifics on how the size would change. Hatch also said Trump would modify the Grand Staircase to allow coal mining in the Kaiparowits Plateau. 
 
 Reaction was swift from the environmental community, which had fought to protect the national monument area that includes tribal artifacts and culturally sensitive parcels. Several groups have said they will challenge any changes to existing monuments in court. 
 
 “ If President Trump attacks the Bears Ears National Monument, it will long be viewed as one of the worst acts of injustice committed by a modern president,” said Scott Groene, executive director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “And one that inevitably will be rectified by a federal court.” 
 
 Nada Culver, director of the BLM Action Center for The Wilderness Society, added: “Neither we nor the vast majority of Americans are ‘grateful’ that the president will recommend dismantling the Bears Ears National Monument and risk the destruction of its incredible natural values and sacred sites.” 
 
 In a 30-second ad posted Thursday, Navajo Nation delegate Davis Filfred, a leading Bears Ears backer, pleads with the president to protect the nation’s heritage and leave national monuments intact. 
 
 “Not all monuments divide us. Some bring us together,” Filfred, a Marine veteran, said in the video. “If you destroy these monuments, our public land could be auctioned off. Our sacred tribal sites would be in danger.” 
 
 Paid for by the National Wildlife Federation, the video doesn’t name Bears Ears, but its imagery references rock art sites, the House on Fire ruins and vistas in the new monument. 
 
 “We have done enough downsizing already,” Filfred said Friday in an interview, noting the tribes’ initial proposal called for 1.9 million acres, nearly 50 percent more land than Obama designated. 
 
 Filfred is the Navajo representative on the five-member Bears Ears Commission formed pursuant to Obama’s monument proclamation that gives five tribes a special advisory role in monument management. 
 
 The commissioners were in Moab on Friday meeting with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, the agencies that administer the monument. 
 
 The monument honors Native Americans and provides a path for healing, according to Jonah Yellowman, a board member on the pro-monument grass-roots group Utah Dine Bikeyah. 
 
 “Bears Ears holds our prayers, medicine, and sacred grounds. President Trump should leave it alone and respect our people,” said Yellowman, a traditional Navajo healer. His group invited Trump to meet with tribal members in Monument Valley when he comes to Utah. 
 
 
 
 Filfred chided Hatch for “dancing around” in celebration of an action that sovereign tribes view as a grave insult. 
 
 “This is not going to bring us together. We need to keep our sacred ground and our monument. It needs to be protected and if he doesn’t, he is asking for litigation,” Filfred warned. “We will fight to the end. ... I’m going to stand my ground.” 
 
 Many legal scholars argue presidents lack legal authority to diminish monuments established by their predecessors, only Congress can take such an action. 
 
 Utah Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, shares many southeastern Utah constituents with Filfred, but he has an opposite view of Trump’s decision to shrink Bears Ears, which he applauded and is confident the courts will uphold. 
 
 By lifting monument status from these lands, Trump would be allowing greater public access and involvement in decision making, Noel contends. Lawmakers representing Utah’s rural corners say federal land management in general and national monuments in particular lock out the public and exclude those most affected by land-use decisions made by bureaucrats. 
 
 Noel argues for a “new paradigm” that allows states greater say and brings environmentalists to the table with ranchers, motorized travelers, archaeologists — “all the people who use public lands and weigh that against how it impacts private lands and our economy.” 
 
 “If you do that, you will get a better outcome than creating massive areas of land that create distrust with the federal government and don’t invite people,” Noel added. “We want to invite people to Kane and Garfield counties and San Juan County to visit. What we don’t want is where 90 percent of the land is locked up and not accessible.” 
 
 Hatch said Friday he was unhappy with the “radical and outside environmental groups” that have fought to keep Bears Ears as is, calling them “real screamers.” The senator said if the environmentalists sue, “they‘ll lose.” 
 
 Friday’s news delighted the San Juan County Commission, which has argued tirelessly against the monument’s designation within its borders. The county’s residents can be trusted to “take special care” of Cedar Mesa, Bears Ears Buttes, Arch Canyon, Elk Ridge and other “magnificent lands” within the new monument, the commissioners said in a statement. 
 
 “We are thrilled the years of meetings, countless hours of discussion and tirelessly dedicated advocacy [have] resulted in our voices being heard by President Trump and Secretary Zinke,” they said. “This is our home, no one wants to see it protected and secure for future generations more than we do.” 
 
 Don Peay, who organized the Utah for Trump effort during the presidential campaign and is founder of the group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said he’s grateful that Trump accepted “Zinke’s well-thought-out recommendation” and heaped praise on the interior secretary with whom he met this week. 
 
 “He has heard the voice of reason: sound conservation of our lands while protecting management ability for abundant herds and hunter access to our monuments,” Peay said. 
 
 Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, said he is “excited about what‘s in store for Utah.” 
 
 “I am very confident this will be a win-win for our state,” he said in a statement. 
 
 But state Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, called the move an “ugly violation of stewardship responsibility” that will undermine Utah’s fastest growing industry: tourism. 
 
 “ Trump, with the conniving help of the Utah congressional delegation, just strangled the golden goose of Utah’s future jobs — the outdoor recreation industry,” Dabakis said. “The winners in the president’s decision are the fossil fuels industry, giant international coal companies and the pollution industry. The losers are Utah families, outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, campers, climbers and all who appreciate the unspeakable beauty of our state.” 
 
 Businesses near the Grand Staircase-Escalante were also concerned about changes to the 21-year-old designation that they say has buoyed the area since Clinton named the monument. 
 
 “President Trump and Ryan Zinke’s attack on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is an attack on southern Utah’s entrepreneurs and the thousands of jobs that depend on the monument,” said Suzanne Catlett, president of the Escalante and Boulder Utah Chamber of Commerce. “The utter disregard for our thriving community and the views of local business owners like me, shows that President Trump could [not] care less about jobs in rural America.”
– Go to Patagonia's website and you're greeted with a message Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has deemed "nefarious": "The President Stole Your Land." The California company is referring to President Trump's move to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, but it's not stopping at that: It filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the Bears Ears slashing, joining three other legal challenges to save the monuments, the AP reports. The suit, which the AP notes was filed on behalf of several groups, says the proposed 85% reduction at Bears Ears is an "extreme overreach in authority" and puts at risk dinosaur fossils and Native American artifacts, among other resources. Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard told CNN of his litigious plans earlier this week, noting, "This government is evil, and I'm not going to sit back and let evil win." President Obama designated Bears Ears a national monument at the end of 2016; Grand Staircase-Escalante received the protection 20 years earlier from President Clinton. At the heart of the commotion is whether a current president can walk back a former president's creation of a national monument under the Antiquities Act, with Native American tribes, environmental groups, and paleontologists arguing that Trump doesn't have the authority to do so; two legal experts interviewed by the AP had varying opinions on the matter. NBC News, which notes the legal wrangling over the national monuments could stretch out for years, adds that Patagonia has long been active in fighting for Utah's public lands. The AP notes more lawsuits are anticipated, especially if Trump moves on Zinke's push to cut other national monuments. More in Time from Patagonia's CEO on why the company is suing.