When President Donald Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah by over 1.2 million acres last month, he justified the decision by asserting that recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, and hiking were largely prohibited within the monument’s borders. Speaking during a White House ceremony, Trump claimed that visitors “can’t do anything” on the land, a statement supported at the time by Kate MacGregor, the second-highest official at the Interior Department.

However, internal government documents obtained through public records requests reveal that the Trump administration was aware of active recreational use in the monument well before the announcement. These records indicate that in June 2020, Utah state officials informed Interior Department advisers of existing recreational access to Bears Ears, including public use of hiking and off-road vehicle trails. One memo from Redge Johnson, director of Utah’s Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, detailed routes popular among visitors, including a motorized trail known as the Peavine Corridor and backpacking loops through Rig Canyon.

Bears Ears, designated a national monument by President Barack Obama in 2016, encompasses land considered sacred by five Indigenous tribes—the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Pueblo of Zuni—and contains thousands of culturally significant archaeological sites. In his proclamation establishing Bears Ears, Obama highlighted the area’s wide range of recreational opportunities, including rock climbing, hunting, hiking, backpacking, and horseback riding.

The Trump administration’s decision followed an earlier attempt during his first term to shrink Bears Ears by 85 percent, alongside a near-halving of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Tribes and environmental groups challenged this reduction in court, arguing that the Antiquities Act of 1906 grants presidents the authority to designate monuments but not to reduce or revoke them. The Biden administration later reinstated full protections for both monuments before a court ruling was issued.

During the latest announcement, the Trump administration also opened these lands to expanded oil drilling, uranium mining, and other commercial resource extraction, actions that critics say threaten the region’s cultural heritage and ecological integrity.

Officials from the Utah state government and Interior Department did not respond to requests for comment on the documents. White House and Interior Department spokespeople defended the monument reductions, claiming previous administrations abused the Antiquities Act by restricting local access and economic development.

Opinions on public access to Bears Ears vary. Louis Williams, founder of Ancient Wayves River and Hiking Adventures, which offers Indigenous-led tours of the monument, disputed Trump’s claim of restricted access, describing the region as “totally accessible.” Conversely, Ben Burr of the BlueRibbon Coalition, an off-road vehicle advocacy group, expressed support for the reductions, criticizing a Biden administration plan that would have prohibited off-road vehicles on much of the monument—a plan that was never enforced.

While the documents reviewed do not address hunting or fishing specifically, the Utah Department of Natural Resources continues to allow these activities in Bears Ears for licensed participants. The dispute over access and land use underscores the ongoing tensions between conservation, Indigenous rights, recreational interests, and resource development in the management of national monuments.