Utah has no legal standing to second-guess President Biden's judgment in restoring the original boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in the state, a federal judge has ruled.

The number of litigants involved in a battle over the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments has swelled with the addition of a number of conservation organizations opposed to any changes.

Utah authorities appear to be hoping their lawsuit aimed at shrinking the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, where Chief Justice John Roberts a little more than a year ago expressed interest in exploring how big is too big when it comes to a monument established by a president under The Antiquities Act.

There are, across the United States, gems hidden, and some not so hidden, that reflect the richness of America's landscape that remains more than two centuries past the birth of the country. Here in the 21st century, where sprawl is pressing more and more across many states, these places preserved as a collection of national monuments capture the imagination of a time many no doubt thought was long past and protect wild America.