AXIOS (Erin Alberty) - Trump cuts nearly 3 million acres from 2 Utah national monuments
President Trump is decimating both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. Why it matters: Monday's orders reduce protections on nearly 3 million acres in southern Utah , affecting more than 90% of each monument's area. Driving the news: Grand Staircase-Escalante will lose nearly 1.7 of its 1.87 million acres - Bears Ears ' 1.36 million acres will be reduced to about 121,000. The big picture: The cuts are far more drastic than in 2017, when Trump eliminated almost half of Grand Staircase-Escalante and 85% of Bears Ears in what was then the largest reduction of federal land protections in U.S. history. - The Biden administration restored the previous boundaries in 2021 and added 12,000 acres to Bears Ears.…