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Grand Staircase-Escalante - Page 5 of 9
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March 9th, 2018What happens when the government is controlled by friends of the oil/gas/mining industry and decides that public lands should be destroyed for short-term rewards? People get angry, and that anger turns to ACTION. Earlier this week, Congress heard from 30 impassioned activists in Washington, D.C. during the Utah Wilderness Coalition’s annual Wilderness Week, co-hosted by SUWA, Sierra Club, and NRDC.
Wilderness Week activists in front of the U.S. Capitol this past week.
After an extensive training session covering the ins and outs of lobbying, Utah wilderness issues, and the legislative process, activists took to Capitol Hill to put their newfound skills to good use. Teams scheduled over 200 meetings with members of Congress. In office after office, their stories of the redrock reinvigorated old legislative champs, educated new ones, and challenged the assertions of opponents.
Now we’re asking you to amplify their voices and help keep up the momentum.
A love for the redrock drove these activists to share their personal stories and connections to the landscape during their meetings on the Hill. Whether they grew up near Utah’s magnificent public lands, hiked through slot canyons on family vacations, or have a deep cultural connection to the landscape, their stories struck a chord in many offices.
For those of you reading this who were not able to attend Wilderness Week, there is still a part for you to play. No matter where you live, contact your members of Congress and tell them to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act!
If they are already cosponsors, click here to thank them!
Or if you prefer to contact your members via your smartphone, text “ARRWA” to 52886 to take action now!
To find out if your members of Congress have already endorsed America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, click here for the current list of cosponsors
Thank you!
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February 6th, 2018As you know, on December 4, 2017, President Trump signed two illegal proclamations that seek to significantly reduce the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.
Despite legal challenges filed by SUWA and partner organizations over these unlawful abuses of presidential authority, the Bureau of Land Management is moving forward with creating new land use plans that reflect the diminished boundaries in both monuments.
Even as we remain confident that President Trump’s actions will be invalidated by the courts, it’s important that you speak up as the BLM begins to move forward with its new management plans.
Comments on the land use plans are due April 11th, 2018.
>> Click here to comment on Bears Ears National Monument.>> Click here to comment on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
(Please note: you must comment separately on each monument plan.)
We encourage you to write personalized comments, as the agency is likely to disregard boilerplate messages. In writing your comments, please consider emphasizing the following points:
- The proclamations reducing the monuments are, first and foremost, unlawful actions that will ultimately be overturned by a court of law. Under the Antiquities Act, the president only has the authority to create a national monument, and only Congress can revoke or reduce the boundaries of an existing monument.
- The BLM should abstain from management planning until a court has ruled on the legality of President Trump’s action. Rapidly moving forward with this planning effort is a waste of valuable agency resources that would be better spent addressing much needed on-the-ground cultural and natural resource protection issues.
Additional talking points are available at the links below:
>> Click here to comment on Bears Ears National Monument.
>> Click here to comment on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.Your comments submitted by March 19th play a critical role in protecting Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments in the short term, while our legal team works daily to restore the monuments for all time.
Thank you for taking action.
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January 30th, 2018The Bureau of Land Management in Utah is ramping up a failed policy called chaining—in which bulldozers drag anchor chains to uproot and destroy native pinyon and juniper forests and sagebrush.
Why do they do this? To create more forage for cattle on public lands.
And now, under the Trump administration, the BLM wants to chain in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The practice of chaining is so unbelievable that most people can’t imagine how destructive it is. That’s why SUWA has launched a new statewide television campaign in Utah—to focus attention on the BLM’s destructive practice and stop the agency from wrecking Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Click below to watch SUWA’s new television ad and take action:
Chaining is a scientifically-unsound practice that wastes millions of taxpayer dollars to effectively destroy thousands of acres of Utah’s public land.
While the BLM is constantly churning out new reasons as to why chaining and other vegetation removal projects need to happen, the real drivers appear to be the same as they were in the 1960s: improving grazing forage for cattle and bringing money to the BLM field offices.
And now, the BLM is proposing chaining as one of the primary methods to remove vegetation on over 13,000 acres in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
But chaining is completely incompatible with protecting the fragile ecological, paleontological, and archaeological resources in Grand Staircase. To say that chaining in Grand Staircase is wildly inappropriate would be an understatement. This is a bad proposal based on bad science that will only produce a bad outcome.
Click here to learn more—and tell the BLM to stop chaining our public lands.Thank you for taking action.
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January 30th, 2018We need your eyes and ears.
President Trump’s orders to rescind Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments and replace them with dramatically smaller monuments has stripped protections for over two million acres of land.
We believe Trump’s orders are illegal and have filed two lawsuits challenging his drastic reductions of both monuments.
Until the courts rule on these lawsuits, SUWA will work to defend all lands within the original Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments from any harm.
You can help by participating in Monument Watch.
When you visit lands within the original, legal boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-National Monuments, watch for any action that may disturb, or is disturbing, the natural setting or archaeological sites. If you live in southern Utah, listen and watch for any evidence that such an action is being planned or initiated.
If you see or hear anything suspicious, file a report immediately with SUWA.
With your help, we will defend Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments from harm.
Thank you for helping to watch our national monuments!
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January 12th, 2018In response to the announcement today by the Bureau of Land Management that it will begin to prepare Monument Management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, which were illegally modified by President Trump on December 4, 2017, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance executive director Scott Groene issued the following statement:
“It is absurd for Secretary Zinke to double down on President Trump’s illegal proclamations by instructing the Bureau of Land Management to rush forward writing management plans for monuments that will inevitably be overturned by the courts. Trump’s proclamations aren’t worth the paper they are printed on, and this effort is a waste of time and tax-payer money. BLM should remain focused on the task at hand: protecting the remarkable cultural and natural resources in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.”