Prospectors filed 16 new mining claims on land stripped from Bears Ears National Monument the same day a Trump administration restriction on new claims expired.
Three of the claims, filed by George W. Schultz, sit in Lockhart Basin, a roughly 50-mile BLM route popular for overlanding that runs along Canyonlands National Park's eastern boundary. The other 13 were filed by Kimmerle Mining in and around the site of an old claim called Easy Peasy, first staked after Trump's 2017 reduction of Bears Ears and reburied once Biden restored the monument in 2021.
"This rush to locate new mining claims in Bears Ears National Monument reinforces the need to be vigilant over the next several years while we work to undo Trump's illegal actions and restore both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments," Hanna Larsen, staff attorney at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement. "As evidenced by the Easy Peasy Mine, claims like these often lead to real and long-lasting damage to the very qualities that make these monuments so special."
"Three of the claims are located in the Lockhart Basin, a spectacular landscape that contains numerous cultural and archaeological sites and sits next to Canyonlands National Park's eastern boundary," said Sara Cawley, energy director at the National Parks Conservation Association, in the same statement. "National park units and their surrounding landscapes are no place for energy development, but outdated laws elevate mining above all other uses on these lands."
Kimmerle Mining tried this once before: on July 14, 2026, it attempted to file seven claims in the same area, more than a month before the 60-day restriction on new mining claims was due to lift. Trump's proclamation states that any such early filing is "unauthorized" and "shall vest no rights against the United States."
The July 13 proclamations, which Ordealist covered at the time, cut Bears Ears from about 1.36 million acres to about 121,100, a 91% reduction, and Grand Staircase-Escalante from about 1.87 million acres to about 181,500, a 90% reduction. New mining claims became legal at 9 a.m. Eastern time on September 11, exactly 60 days later.
The Bureau of Land Management says it will manage the newly opened land under its existing 2025 plan while it drafts a new one, and will hold formal consultations with the five Tribal nations that made up the former Bears Ears Commission. The agency hasn't commented on these specific claims.
Conservation groups, including Patagonia and SUWA, asked a federal court on September 2 to reopen a 2017 lawsuit challenging the reduction itself, arguing the Antiquities Act lets a president create a monument but not shrink one a predecessor established.
How we reported this
This article draws on the following sources, accessed September 2026:
- The White House, proclamation modifying Bears Ears National Monument and fact sheet, the primary text and figures for the July 13, 2026 boundary reduction.
- The Salt Lake Tribune and Moab Times, reporting that 16 mining claims were filed the day the restriction lifted.
- KUER, reporting on Kimmerle Mining's earlier, premature July 14 filing attempt.
- KSJD, reporting the Bureau of Land Management's statement on managing the newly available land.
- Deseret News, reporting on the September 2 court filing to reopen the 2017 lawsuit.
- Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, press release that first surfaced the September 11 filings, including quotes from conservation groups.