At a Glance

President Donald Trump will visit Salt Lake City on Monday.He is expected to announce a decision to shrink two national monuments in the state.

President Donald Trump will visit Salt Lake Cityon Monday, where he is expectedto announce his plan to shrink two of Utah's national monuments.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, to discuss Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, protected lands that today cover more than 5,600 square miles.

Per Trump's to review 27 national monuments established in the last 21 years that are 100,000 acres or more in size,Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke completed his 120-day review and in August, recommendinga reduction in the size of the monuments protected under the Teddy Roosevelt-era Antiquities Act of 1906.

In his summary,Zinke said thereasoning behind many of the designations has changed since protection was first declared, while some proclamations were “arbitrary or politically motivated.”

“No President should use the authority under the Antiquities Act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object,”Zinke says in. “The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much-needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses and recreation.”

Trump noted in his April 6 executive order that "monument designations that result from a lack of public outreach and proper coordination with state, tribal, and local officials and other relevant stakeholders may also create barriers to achieving energy independence, restrict public access to and use of federal lands, burden state, tribal, and local governments, and otherwise curtail economic growth."

Although Zinke has not recommended the elimination of any of the 27 monuments, he is recommending the reduction of six, including the two in Utah.

According to the Washington Post, sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said , although the White House has yet to confirm whether Trump will announce plans to shrink the monuments during Monday's visit.

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NPR'sKirk Siegler said in an interview with the host of NPR's All Things Considered, Ari Shapiro, that part of the reason for the executive order was to undermine former President Barack Obama's legacybut noted that "alot of this review can be traced back to Utah."

"It's a conservative state where about two-thirds of the land is under federal control," Siegler said in August. "And you know, there are tensions about federal overreach of land management that date back decades there but, specifically in this case, to President Clinton when he designated the Grand Staircase National Monument largely in secret without the input of Utah politicians. And then last year, of course, came the Bears Ears National Monument designated under President Obama."

Another reason for the push to release public landsis local government's inability to impose property taxes. Much of the land thatisn't protected federally is protected Navajo territory. Without taxes, communities are unable to provide needed services.

Siegler noted that the Obama administration's designation of lands in 2016 was controversialin rural areas where some people are "opposed to it because they think — and rightly so — that a national monument adds additional protections. It prevents future development, like, puts mining and oil and gas drilling off the table."

Environmental groups say they will fight back in court if the Trump administration attempts to reduce any monument designation.

“President Trump is making it clear that he stands with the most partisan and anti-lands faction of his party, not the majority of Americans," Wilderness Society President Jamie Williams said in.