January 7, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Finalized in the Face of Threats to Public Lands in Utah – 1.7.25
Contacts:
Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (435) 259-5440; kya@suwa.org
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT – Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) signed the Record of Decision for the final Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the restored Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Below is a statement from SUWA Wildlands Attorney Kya Marienfeld and additional information.
“The BLM’s final plan takes meaningful and important steps to protect one of the most treasured public landscapes in America. Once again, the Monument will be managed to protect what makes it like nowhere else – remarkable paleontological discoveries and cultural connections, jaw-dropping scenery, and outstanding intact and diverse natural ecosystems,“ said Kya Marienfeld, SUWA Wildlands Attorney. “Sadly, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and other public land opponents continue their attacks on Grand Staircase-Escalante, which is managed for the benefit of all Americans. SUWA will unflinchingly continue to protect and defend the Monument for current and future generations.”
About the Monument
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated as a national monument in 1996 to protect the incredible scientific, ecological, and paleontological resources within its 1.9 million acres. This crown jewel of our nation’s public lands was the first monument managed by the BLM, and was the first unit in the agency’s now robust and expansive “National Conservation Lands” program.
Since its establishment, heightened protections for the Monument’s geology, paleontology, wildlife, plant communities, and ancestral sites have succeeded in preserving these unique values for generations to come, and local communities on the Monument’s doorstep have benefited as well. More than 25 years later, the numerous benefits of protecting Grand Staircase-Escalante are clear: the monument preserves a remarkable ecosystem at the landscape-level and sets the stage for future discovery about human, paleontological, and geologic history on the Colorado Plateau.
On December 4, 2017, President Trump ignored millions of public comments and eliminated large swaths of the Monument, slashing it by 47 percent – roughly 900,000 acres. Thankfully, on October 8, 2021, President Biden signed a proclamation restoring Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to its full, original boundaries. In 2023, BLM began the process of developing a new management plan for the full Monument. During both the scoping phase of the current planning effort and after a draft plan was released, SUWA members and supporters of public lands conservation across the country submitted comments to the BLM calling for a holistic, conservation-based management plan worthy of this remarkable place.
In August 2023, a Federal District Court Judge in Utah dismissed lawsuits brought by the State of Utah, Blue Ribbon Coalition, and others challenging President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to restore the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. The state and other plaintiffs quickly appealed that decision to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held oral argument on September 26, 2024, and will issue a decision in the coming months. SUWA and nine other conservation organizations have intervened on behalf of the United States to defend President Biden’s restoration of the Monuments, as have four Tribal nations.
Background Information
- BLM E-planning page on the Grand Staircase-Escalante RMP
- SUWA Statement on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) – August 10, 2023
- SUWA Advocacy Actions – Scoping Phase (September 2022); Draft Plan (October 2023)
- SUWA Statement on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Final RMP – 8.29.24
- SUWA webpage on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
