President Donald Trump has dramatically scaled back two public outdoor parks, or national monuments, in Utah.
He declared an 85% cut to the state’s 1.3m acre Bears Ears National Monument and a 50% cut to its 1.9m acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The policy is likely to provoke lawsuits from Native American tribes and environmental groups.
But it will be welcomed by ranchers and business interests who view such monuments as federal land grabs.
The fight for Utah’s national monuments
Speaking in Salt Lake City, Mr Trump said: “Some people think the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful of very distant bureaucrats located in Washington.
“And guess what, they’re wrong.”
He added: “I’ve come to Utah to take a very historic action, to reverse federal over-reach and to restore the rights of this land to your citizens.”
Native American tribespeople who consider Bears Ears sacred are planning to sue the administration.
“We will be fighting back immediately,” said Natalie Landreth, a lawyer for the Native American Rights Fund.
“All five tribes will be standing together united to defend Bears Ears.”
The Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Mountain and Ute Indians form a commission that administrates the territory.
Jonathan Nez, Vice-President of the Navajo Nation, said: “This is a sad day for indigenous people and for America.
“However, we are resilient and refuse to allow President Trump’s unlawful decision to discourage us.
“We will continue to fight in honour of our ancestral warriors who fought for our way of life, for our culture and for our land, too.”
Mr Trump’s Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, said earlier that Mr Trump’s aim in reversing the park’s federally protected status was “about giving rural America a voice”.
He added that “public land is for the public to use and not special interests”.
Bear Ears National Monument was declared by President Barack Obama in December 2016, near to the end of his presidency.
Unlike a national park, which requires an act of Congress, a national monument can be designated by any sitting president under the 1906 Antiquities Act.
