- President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders reducing the size of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments on Monday.
- The monuments have shifted in size between administrations, with Trump reducing them in 2017 and President Joe Biden restoring their original boundaries in 2021.
- Environmental groups and Utah officials are divided over the potential reduction, with critics threatening legal challenges and supporters seeking more local control.
Utah
Utah prairie dogs are no longer nearly extinct. Here's why
PANGUITCH — Utah Prairie Dog Day was held Thursday at Bryce Canyon National Park to celebrate and raise awareness for the once-endangered species, and the large part Utah Prairie Dogs play in the state’s ecosystem.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources coordinated the event with the park, where Petey the prairie dog joined a group of kids and parents. Research Egologist with the United States Geological Survey David Eads spoke and held games with the kids, and drawings from the event of Utah prairie dogs will be displayed in the visitor’s center.
“It’s important I think for adults too. Kids are really fun to teach, and oh my gosh it was amazing watching all the kids today. It was like — the line for all the kids that wanted to do the little prairie dog calling contest was amazing,” said Utah Prairie Dog Recovery Biologist Barbara Sugarman. “I think there’s so much to learn about what can be done with the species.”
Petey the prairie dog at the Utah prairie dog day in Bryce Canyon National Park on May 9, 2024. (Marc Weaver, KSL TV)
According to the National Park Service, Utah prairie dogs are one of five species living in North America. Prairie dogs once scattered an enormous area of the western Great Plains, and Utah prairie dogs were recorded in numbers as high as 95,000 in the 1920s.
As western settlers continued to move in, the number of Utah prairie dogs declined because of pest control, disease, and loss of habitat. By 1972, Utah prairie dogs had been reduced to an estimated 3,300, the DWR stated. In 1973, the mammals were considered an endangered species.
“I know there’s definitely some conflict situations with Utah prairie dogs and we want to make sure we help those folks and also help the species at the same time. We do lots of trapping and translocation efforts in those conflict situations,” Sugarman said.
Sugarman said conservation strategists reintroduced a colony to Bryce Canyon National Park in the 1980s. Sugarman said 153 Utah prairie dogs now live inside the park, making up the largest protected population of Utah prairie dogs.
Range-wide, Sugarman said conservationists counted over 9,500 Utah prairie dogs during the spring count of 2023. However, because of the timing of the count, and the fact that young prairie dogs and newborns will not be seen, DWR estimated a population of over 69,500.
Sugarman said the DWR works with multiple other agencies, including biologists with Bryce Canyon, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Utah Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, and even Utah counties.
She said that due to the communal effort, all units met their recovery goal for the first time in 2023, which was a “huge accomplishment.”
“It’s a really good story of conservation success, Utah prairie dogs are doing really well right now, the population is pretty close to one of the all-time high peaks right now,” Sugarman said. “I like to say it’s a good lesson of partnership and how working together really accomplishes amazing conservation goals.”
SALT LAKE CITY — A Riverton woman is proving that one moment of compassion can change a life.
On May 21, LaCinda Thackeray was flying home to Utah from Southern California after attending a family funeral when someone outside the window caught her attention.
As she waited to board her plane at John Wayne Airport, she noticed an airport worker struggling to walk across the tarmac.
“I just saw somebody who needed a little bit of support and love and kindness,” Thackeray said. “What really was hard for me was just the conditions he was in, and I didn’t even know his story at that point.”
Before her flight departed, Thackeray recorded a short video of the man and shared it on TikTok, asking if anyone knew who he was.
“Immediately when I sat on the airplane, my thought was, if anybody knew who he was, could we get him retired?” Thackeray said. “I didn’t know it was going to take off. I had no idea.”
Within a few hours, the video had been viewed more than a million times. Thousands of people shared it, and strangers from around the world began asking how they could help.
The internet soon identified the man as 64-year-old James Blair, a Navy veteran who works as a fuel injector and fuel mechanic at the airport.
By all accounts, Blair has lived a life of service. He served in the Navy from 1980 to 1990.
“We were 20 minutes from launching against Iran when the hostages were in Iran. We had all of our planes loaded with bombs and missiles on our ship and were just waiting for President Reagan to give the go-ahead,” Blair said.
After the Navy, Blair said he worked at LAX airport for 13 years and, after a three-year stint as a truck driver, returned to working on planes at John Wayne Airport.
“I’ve been at John Wayne Airport since April of 2006,” Blair said.
Though Blair turned 64 in March, retirement is not on his horizon.
“My plan was to work until I can’t work, until I physically can’t work,” he said. “I have inquiries out about getting knee operations; I’m working on that right now.”
Despite ongoing knee problems, Blair said his priority is his elderly mother, whom he lives with.
Thackeray said much of Blair’s income goes toward her hospice care.
“She has her good days, and she has her bad days,” Blair said.
Encouraged by people online, Thackeray started a GoFundMe campaign. She said donations quickly poured in.
“At one point, I remember telling my husband, ‘What did I do?’” Thackeray said. “When we needed to get him the money, that is when we were a little panicky, but then it changed really fast.”
The overwhelming support, Thackeray said, presented an exciting opportunity but also some challenges in ensuring that Blair would receive the money.
Until recently, Blair didn’t have a smartphone or social media accounts.
His boss volunteered to drive 1.5 hours to his home to help him set up a GoFundMe account so that he could receive the funds as a beneficiary.
“When his boss went out there, it eased so much anxiety,” Thackeray said.
Recently, Thackeray returned to California to personally deliver a $174,000 check to Blair.
For Blair, the support from complete strangers has restored his faith in humanity.
“Not in a million years,” Blair said when asked if he ever imagined something like this would happen.
“I’m just a person trying to do a job, trying to survive, and the way people give their own money. I have a hard time working to pay bills, so other people probably have the same problems. When they’re giving money they really can’t spare, that amazes me. I’m just blown away.”
Thackeray said the generosity extended far beyond the United States.
“I was speechless because I felt like the world showed up, and I think in these times we need people like that.” She said.
“I’ve been speaking to people all over the world, and they’re just, ‘Tell James hi!’ Give him a hug for us!” she said.
Blair also reflected on how deeply the experience has affected him personally.
“I believed in God, but I didn’t really believe in God. But now, with the angel sitting next to you, it’s amazing,” Blair told Thackeray. “I can’t believe how God works in mysterious ways.”
Although Blair is still going to work, he recently used some of the funds to buy himself a bed. He continues to care for his mother.
“I mean, I don’t know what Salt Lake City living is now, but California is really expensive,” Blair said.
What began as a brief glance through an airplane window has grown into an unlikely friendship — and a powerful reminder that a single act of kindness can inspire thousands of people to make a difference.
“I’m so happy for him and that he gets to experience this,” Thackeray said.
“I told him, I’m just a little part of your story, I’m happy that I could do that, but I hope you can always remember the ones that showed up and donated.”
To date, nearly 6,000 people have donated to the fundraiser. It has raised $180,521.00 for Blair.
Thackeray’s TikTok video of Blair has been viewed more than 9 million times, garnering nearly 800,000 likes and 8,000 comments.
For more information about the fundraiser, visit: https://gofund.me/51f1c9e16
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Not only the Utah that we are today, but the Utah that we can choose to become.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gabriel Meneses makes one of the limited edition flags for the United States 250th anniversary at Colonial Flag in Sandy on Monday, June 1, 2026.
President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on Monday afternoon shrinking the size of two national monuments in Utah, which currently cover a combined 5,094 square miles, the Deseret News confirmed on background with a Utah source.
The two national monuments — Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears — have oscillated in size through the previous several presidential administrations.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was created by President Bill Clinton in September 1996. Bears Ears National Monument was created by President Barack Obama in December 2016. Both designations received a mixed reception among Utahns.
In 2017, Trump reduced Bears Ears by about 85% and Grand Staircase by about 46%.
Then when former President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he restored them to their original sizes.
Trump is expected to sign the executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday at 4:30 EST.
In a statement to the Deseret News on Friday, the White House said, “Any policy announcement will come directly from the President. This reporting about potential executive orders is pure speculation.”
National monument designations place restrictions on what recreational and economic activity residents and visitors can do on the land. The designation also prohibits anyone from pursuing new mining claims, oil and gas leasing, coal exploration or new commercial infrastructure projects.
However, the Bureau of Land Management previously found that Bears Ears and Grand Staircase have little to offer in terms of oil and gas potential, the Deseret News previously reported.
For nearly three decades since Clinton designated the first monument, Utah’s federal delegation has asked for reductions in land size for more local control, recreation and grazing.
Recently, Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy challenged the monument’s resource management plan to return to a plan the first Trump administration outlined in 2020 with help from local Utahns.
However, her bill died after missing a key deadline to make it to the Senate for a vote.
People react to the potential land reduction
Based on an initial report by ABC4, environmental groups are already vocalizing their disapproval over a potential reduction of monument land.
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Executive Director Scott Braden described the potential executive order as “unlawful, unwise and unacceptable,” in a press release sent to the Deseret News.
“This action will only bring uncertainty and chaos to places that should instead be protected for their rich biodiversity, unique geology, and remarkable cultural values,” he wrote. Braden said SUWA was preparing to fight the executive order through lawsuits or by lobbying in Congress.
On X, former Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin referenced the land reduction in conjunction with the Babylon Fire, which as of Friday is 25% contained and has covered more than 100,000 acres in southeastern Utah.
“As the largest wildfire in the U.S. burns pristine landscapes in southeastern Utah, Trump is threatening to shrink both Grand Staircase & Bears Ears National Monuments,” Blouin wrote. “This unprecedented move is happening without input from the region’s ancestral inhabitants.
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