Mining claims have been lodged across land removed from Bears Ears National Monument just two months after Tribal leaders warned President Donald Trump's cuts could expose sacred lands in Utah to resource extraction.
Twenty-three claims have now been filed on land removed from Bears Ears under President Trump's new boundaries after it opened to mining claims on September 11.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance reported 16 claims were filed by noon on the first day, with another seven lodged since.
The claims are spread across three areas, including Lockhart Basin, Cheese and Raisins Hills near the former Easy Peasy mine and land near Natural Bridges National Monument.
President Trump's new boundaries reduced Bears Ears by about 90 per cent in July, removing national monument protections from about 1.24 million acres and terminating the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Commission.
The boundary changes are now in effect, although their legality is being challenged.
The removed land would become available for mineral leasing and mining claims after a 60-day waiting period.
Bears Ears is culturally and spiritually significant to the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and contains ancestral villages, ceremonial and burial sites, rock art and other cultural sites.
One day before the land opened to mining claims, Navajo Nation citizen and Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition co-chair, Davina Smith-Idjesa, spoke about the continuing relationship Tribal Nations have with the landscape.
"They are our sacred places, our churches, our medicine cabinets, our grocery stores, and living landscapes where ceremonies, histories, teachings and relationships with land continue today," Ms Smith-Idjesa said.
"Tribal inclusion and co-management is not symbolic participation. It's about respecting tribal sovereignty."
Concerns about mining had been raised before the 60-day period expired.
Southern Paiute woman and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition coordinator, Autumn Gillard, warned in August that mining could affect Indigenous cultural places across the neighbouring monument, which was also reduced by about 90 per cent.
"When we talk about Grand Staircase-Escalante, we are not simply talking about public land or a national monument. We are talking about our homelands — living landscapes with personhood and spirit," Ms Gillard said.
"New mining on lands unlawfully cut from the monument threatens not just the land's natural beauty, plants, and animals, but our sacred places, our culture, and our history."
The first 16 Bears Ears claims included 13 filed by Kimmerle Mining and three by George W. Schultz.
Kimmerle Mining had attempted to file seven claims one day after President Trump's July proclamation, before the land had legally opened to new claims.
The latest filings do not mean mining operations have been approved, but mark the first step towards possible mineral development on the land.
Legal challenges to President Trump's monument reductions are also progressing.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council moved on September 2 to reopen previous litigation over President Trump's 2017 monument reductions and extend the challenge to his latest proclamations.
The groups said two other coalitions had also moved to reopen litigation and expected Tribal Nations to bring their own legal action.
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) continues to represent the Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in its Bears Ears case.
NARF has maintained the Antiquities Act gives presidents authority to create national monuments but does not give them the power to revoke existing protections.
No new mining claims had been recorded on land removed from Grand Staircase-Escalante as of September 23.
