An analysis from conservation groups shows coal parcels available for leasing by the federal government directly adjacent to or near Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef national parks and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
The discovery, made by Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, comes after the Trump administration opened 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing last month, meant to triple the benchmarks set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which established regular coal lease sales, reduced royalty rates, and streamlined leasing reviews to revitalize American energy production.
The federal land made available includes 48,000 acres in Utah administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM uses Resource Management Plans (RMPs) to guide land use decisions. Two such RMPs, finalized in 2008 during the George W. Bush administration, had identified approximately 42,000 acres included in the Trump administration’s announcement as “unsuitable” for surface coal mining and operations, which meant that the agency would not offer those tracts for leasing.
This latest announcement contradicts the previous agency decision.
“It was decided decades ago that these lands would be off the table,” said Cory MacNulty, Southwest campaign director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “Dirty energy development has no place near our national parks, especially as iconic landscapes across the Southwest are already at risk of having hazy skies, polluted water, and a degraded visitor experience from nearby drilling and mining.”
One nearly 12,000-acre parcel available for lease is directly adjacent to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, sitting along its western side, and south of Bryce Canyon National Park. If coal leasing and development move forward in this area, visitors would see impacts from the Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive and its various overlooks in the southern portion of the park.
“The potential coal mining lease on the northwestern border with Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a bad idea because the water that flows through this section feeds the tributaries of the Paria River, which breathes life into the landscape of Grand Staircase-Escalante,” said Jacqualine Grant, executive director of Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners.
The parcels near Zion National Park are on the eastern side of the park and include a portion of the North Fork of the Virgin River and North Fork Road, which provides access to the Zion Narrows, as well as the Chamberlain Ranch and Orderville Gulch trailheads.
Capitol Reef National Park is threatened by an approximately 2,000-acre parcel directly adjacent to its eastern border and on the way to the stunning Temple of the Sun and Moon monoliths in the remote Cathedral Valley region of the park, the groups said
“Our national parks and public lands protect and conserve the land, air, and water throughout our state allowing for us to have some of the most beautiful wild spaces in the nation for our communities to recreate in and enjoy,” said Franque Bains, director of Utah Sierra Club. “These latest coal leasing announcements show that [the Trump administration is] still not set to listen. We’ll keep fighting to keep our public lands protected and public.”
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