FILE - In this May 9, 2017, file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rides a horse in the new Bears Ears National Monument near Blanding, Utah. Zinke is recommending that six of 27 national monuments... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending that six of 27 national monuments under review by the Trump administration be reduced in size, with changes to several others proposed. 
 
 A leaked memo from Zinke to President Donald Trump recommends that two Utah monuments - Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante — be reduced, along with Nevada's Gold Butte and Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou. 
 
 Two marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean also would be reduced under Zinke's memo, which has not been officially released. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. 
 
 Trump ordered the review earlier this year after complaining about improper "land grabs" by former presidents, including Barack Obama. 
 
 National monument designations add protections for lands revered for their natural beauty and historical significance with the goal of preserving them for future generations. The restrictions aren't as stringent as for national parks, but some policies include limits on mining, timber cutting and recreational activities such as riding off-road vehicles. 
 
 The monuments under review were designated by four presidents over the last two decades. Several are about the size of the state of Delaware, including Mojave Trails in California, Grand-Staircase Escalante in Utah and Bears Ears, which is on sacred tribal land. 
 
 No other president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have trimmed and redrawn boundaries 18 times, according to the National Park Service. 
 
 Zinke told The Associated Press last month that unspecified boundary adjustments for some monuments designated over the past four decades will be included in the recommendations submitted to Trump. None of the sites would revert to new ownership, he said, while public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored. 
 
 He also spoke of protecting tribal interests and historical land grants, pointing to monuments in New Mexico, where Hispanic ranchers have opposed two monuments proclaimed by Obama. 
 
 Zinke declined to say whether portions of the monuments would be opened up to oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and other industries for which Trump has advocated. It was not clear from the memo how much energy development would be allowed on the sites recommended for changes, although the memo cites increased public access as a key goal. 
 
 A spokeswoman for Zinke referred questions Sunday night to the White House, which did not offer immediate comment. 
 
 If Trump adopts the recommendations, it would quiet some of the worst fears of his opponents, who warned that vast public lands and marine areas could be lost to states or private interests. 
 
 But significant reductions in the size of the monuments, especially those created by Obama, would mark the latest in a string of actions where Trump has sought to erode his Democratic predecessor's legacy. 
 
 The recommendations cap an unprecedented four-month review based on Trump's claim that the century-old Antiquities Act had been misused by past presidents to create oversized monuments that hinder energy development, grazing and other uses. 
 
 The review raised alarm among conservationists who said protections could be lost for areas that are home to ancient cliff dwellings, towering sequoia trees, deep canyons and ocean habitats. They've vowed to file lawsuits if Trump attempts any changes that would reduce the size of monuments or rescind their designations. 
 
 Zinke had previously announced that no changes would be made at six national monuments — in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, California, Arizona and Washington. He also said that Bears Ears monument in Utah should be downsized. 
 
 In addition to shrinking six monuments, Zinke recommends changes at several other sites, including two national monuments in New Mexico: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte. 
 
 He also recommended changes to Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine. 
 
 Jamie Williams, president of the Wilderness Society, said the recommendations apparently made by Zinke "represent an unprecedented assault on our parks and public lands" by the Trump administration. 
 
 "This callous proposal will needlessly punish local, predominantly rural communities that depend on parks and public lands for outdoor recreation, sustainable jobs and economic growth," Williams said in a statement. 
 
 "We believe the Trump administration has no legal authority to alter or erase protections for national treasures. If President Trump acts in support of these recommendations, The Wilderness Society will move swiftly to challenge those actions in court," Williams said. ||||| FILE - In this May 26, 2017, file photo, Susie Gelbart walks near petroglyphs at the Gold Butte National Monument near Bunkerville, Nev. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none... (Associated Press) 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Tribes, ranchers and conservationists know that none of the national monuments ordered reviewed by President Donald Trump will be eliminated, but the changes in store for the sprawling land and sea areas remain a mystery after the administration kept a list of recommendations under wraps. 
 
 That left people on all sides of the contentious debate clinging to only shreds of information and anxiously waiting for more details. 
 
 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told The Associated Press that none of the 27 monuments will be rescinded, but he said he would push for boundary changes on a "handful" and left open the possibility of allowing drilling, mining or other industries on the sites. 
 
 The White House said only that it received Zinke's recommendations Thursday, a deadline set months ago. But it declined to make them public or offer a timetable for when it would take action. 
 
 Zinke previously said in a trickle of announcements this summer that no changes would be made at six monuments under review — in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, California, Arizona and Washington — and that Bears Ears on tribal lands in Utah would be downsized. 
 
 Conservationists and tribal leaders responded with alarm and distrust, demanding the full release of Zinke's recommendations and vowing to challenge attempts to shrink any monuments. 
 
 Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, which has been pushing for preservation of five marine monuments included in the review, said that simply saying "changes" are coming doesn't reveal any real information. 
 
 "A change can be a small tweak or near annihilation," Savitz said. "The public has a right to know." 
 
 Groups that consider the millions of acres designated for protection by President Barack Obama and other past presidents part of a massive federal land grab voiced optimism that Zinke wants to reign in some areas. But they also expressed disappointment that the full report wasn't available. 
 
 "It was kind of the unmonumental monument announcement," said Kathleen Sgamma, of the oil industry trade group Western Energy Alliance. 
 
 Sgamma's group is among the organizations that hope the review spurs reform of the 1906 Antiquities Act, the law that gives presidents power to unilaterally create national monuments. Zinke said in a short summary report that he found that that the creation of some of the monuments was arbitrary or politically motivated. 
 
 If Trump adopts Zinke's recommendations, it could ease some of the worst fears of the president's opponents, who warned that vast public lands and marine areas could be stripped of federal protection. 
 
 But significant reductions in the size of the monuments or changes in what activities are allowed on them could trigger fierce resistance, too, including lawsuits. 
 
 A tribal coalition that pushed for the creation of the 2,100-square-mile (5,400-sqaure kilometer) Bears Ears monument on sacred tribal land said it is prepared to launch a legal fight against even a slight reduction in its size. 
 
 "Our tribes stand together and are willing to go into battle in terms of litigation," said Davis Filfred, a council delegate for the Navajo Nation council. 
 
 New England commercial fishing groups say they're hopeful they'll get back rights to fish in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, an area off the coast of New England designated last year for protection by President Obama. 
 
 Republican Utah state Rep. Mike Noel, who has pushed to rescind the designation of Bears Ears as a monument, said he could live with a rollback of its boundaries. He called that a good compromise that would enable continued tourism while still allowing activities that locals have pursued for generations — logging, livestock grazing and oil and gas drilling. 
 
 Other sites that might see changes include the Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in the Utah desert, consisting of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings; Katahdin Woods and Waters, 136 square miles (352 square kilometers) of forest of northern Maine; and Cascade Siskiyou, a 156-square-mile (404-square kilometer) region where three mountain ranges converge in Oregon. 
 
 The marine monuments encompass more than 340,000 square miles (880,000 square kilometers) and include four sites in the Pacific Ocean and an array of underwater canyons and mountains off New England. 
 
 Zinke suggested that the same presidential proclamation process used by four presidents over two decades to create the monuments could be used to enact changes. 
 
 Environmental groups contend the Antiquities Act allows presidents to create national monuments but gives only Congress the power to modify them. Mark Squillace, a law professor at the University of Colorado, said he agrees with that view but noted the dispute has never gone before the courts. 
 
 Conservative legal scholars have come down on the side of the administration. 
 
 No president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have reduced or redrawn the boundaries on 18 occasions, according to the National Park Service. 
 
 Zinke did not directly answer whether any monuments would be newly opened to energy development, mining and other industries Trump has championed. 
 
 Zinke, a former Montana congressman, insisted that public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored. He also spoke of protecting tribal interests. In the interview, Zinke struck back against conservationists who had warned of impending mass sell-offs of public lands by the Trump administration. 
 
 "I've heard this narrative that somehow the land is going to be sold or transferred," he said. "That narrative is patently false and shameful. The land was public before and it will be public after." 
 
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 Brown reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington, Felicia Fonseca from Flagstaff, Arizona; and Patrick Whittle from Portland, Maine. 
 
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 / Updated / Source: Associated Press 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and outdoor retail giant Patagonia traded harsh words over the Trump administration's plans to shrink several national monuments, an opening salvo in an imminent legal battle that could be waged for years. 
 
 A barrage of lawsuits is expected by groups looking to block President Donald Trump's order on Monday drastically reducing Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Three lawsuits had been filed by Tuesday night, with more expected Wednesday. 
 
 Trump said he was reversing federal overreach by drastically cutting the sprawling monuments named by Democratic presidents. But tribal leaders, environmentalists and others argue the president doesn't have that authority and his move jeopardizes a wealth of Native American artifacts, dinosaur fossils and rugged spaces. 
 
 Patagonia, which is expected to file a lawsuit by Wednesday, replaced its usual home page with a stark message, "The President Stole Your Land."The California-based company called Trump's actions illegal and described Monday's action as the largest elimination of protected land in American history. 
 
 Zinke shot back, calling that "nefarious, false and a lie." He told reporters that the land targeted by Trump remains protected because it is still under federal control. 
 
 "I understand fundraising for these special interest groups," Zinke said. "I think it's shameful and appalling that they would blatantly lie in order to gain money in their coffers." 
 
 Related: Trump cutting national monuments sets up environmental showdown 
 
 Outdoor retailer REI also criticized Trump but in less harsh language. 
 
 Zinke took a defiant tone in a conference call with reporters, saying, "I don't yield to pressure, only higher principle. And sound public policy is not based on threats of lawsuits, it's doing what's right." 
 
 Patagonia has "always viewed public lands as our special interest," said company spokeswoman Corley Kenna. "And it's odd that Ryan Zinke has no problem with special interests when they're paying for his private jets. We have been fighting for these lands for decades, so that hunters, fishers, hikers and everyone else can use them and help us protect them." 
 
 A full moon sets behind Cedar Mesa, which is within Bears Ears National Monument, near Mexican Hat, Utah on Nov. 14, 2016. Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA file 
 
 Patagonia's statements follow more than a year of the company's activism on the issue, which is not the only time the retailer has stepped in a debate over Utah's public lands. The company joined with REI and other outdoor recreation companies in leading a push to move the industry's lucrative trade show from Salt Lake City to Denver after two decades in Utah. The move was a high-profile protest over Utah leaders' insistence on getting the Bears Ears designation rescinded and trying to take more control of federal lands. 
 
 Zinke argued that Bears Ears is still larger than Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks combined even after being downsized to about 202,000 acres while Grand Staircase-Escalante retains about 1 million acres. 
 
 Environmental and conservation groups and a coalition of tribes filed lawsuits Monday that ensure Trump's announcement is far from the final word in the yearslong battle over public lands in Utah and other Western states. The court cases are likely to drag on for years. 
 
 A coalition of the Hopi, Ute Indian, Ute Mountain Ute, Zuni tribes and Navajo Nation sued late Monday to challenge the Bears Ears reduction, which cuts monument status for the rugged land in southeastern Utah by about 85 percent. Bears Ears features thousands of Native American artifacts, including ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. 
 
 The tribes argue that federal law only gives presidents the ability to create a national monument, not the ability to downsize one. 
 
 Two lawsuits also have been filed to try to block the Grand Staircase decision, which cuts the monument nearly in half. Grand Staircase contains scenic cliffs, canyons, waterfalls and arches — and one of the nation's largest known coal reserves. 
 
 The two monuments were created by Democrats Barack Obama and Bill Clinton under a century-old law that allows presidents to protect sites considered historically, geographically or culturally important. 
 
 Trump acted on a recommendation by Zinke, who also has urged that two other large national monuments in the West be reduced in size, potentially opening up thousands of acres of land revered for natural beauty and historical significance to mining, logging and other development. 
 
 The interior secretary's plan would scale back Nevada's Gold Butte and Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou, in addition to the two Utah sites. 
 
 Zinke said Tuesday he would focus changes in Gold Butte on the site's water districts. Gold Butte protects nearly 300,000 acres of desert landscapes featuring rock art, sandstone towers and wildlife habitat for the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise and other species. 
 
 Zinke declined to specify how many acres he wants to remove from monument status, stressing that the administration is working with Nevada's governor and congressional delegation to find a solution.
– Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending that six of 27 national monuments under review by the Trump administration be reduced in size, with changes to several others proposed, per the AP. A leaked memo from Zinke to President Trump recommends that two Utah monuments—Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante—be reduced, along with Nevada's Gold Butte and Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou. Two marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean also would be reduced under Zinke's memo, which has not been officially released. (Details have previously leaked.) Trump ordered the review earlier this year after complaining about improper "land grabs" by former presidents, including Barack Obama. The monuments under review were designated by four presidents over the last two decades. Several are about the size of the state of Delaware, including Mojave Trails in California, Grand-Staircase Escalante in Utah, and Bears Ears, which is on sacred tribal land. Among other things, Zinke recommends opening hundreds of thousands of square miles of currently protected zones in the Atlantic and Pacific to commercial fishing, reports the Wall Street Journal, which also obtained a copy of the memo. The changes also could open up areas around monuments on land to coal and oil exploration. For instance, the memo says the Grand Staircase-Escalante currently has "an estimated several billion tons of oil and large oil deposits." The Journal expects environmental groups to fight any changes.