Senators Attack Management Plan For Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Congressional Republicans have formally begun the process of overturning the management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Senator Mike Lee, R-UT, added the Government Accountability Office (GAO) opinion regarding the Monument’s Management Plan to the Congressional Record. Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), once a “resolution of disapproval” is introduced, both chambers of Congress can expedite their votes and pass the measures by simple majority votes.

If the vote passes and resolution is signed into law by President Trump, the Monument Management Plan will be undone and the Bureau of Land Management will be barred from issuing another plan that is “substantially the same” in the future. The management plan is crucial, as it sets expectations for how the land will be managed for wildlife, outdoor access, dark night skies, grazing, and other uses.

“The fate of our public lands, including our precious national monuments, should not be left to a handful of politicians who want to turn them over to industry,” said Tom Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “While this may be the first CRA attack on a national monument, it will not be the last if members of Congress on both sides of the aisle don’t stand up to oppose it.”

The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to disapprove of administrative rules, but it has never been used to overturn a monument’s management plan, as these plans were never previously considered to be “rules.”

“Invoking the CRA against national monument management plans is unprecedented, unlawful, and an assault on public participation in stewarding our public lands,” said Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club’s director of conservation. “Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is one of this country’s most treasured public landscapes, and the public has been involved from advocating for its protection to organizing its long-term management. Overturning this plan erases years of public engagement and Tribal consultation, and threatens certainty for everyone who uses and enjoys this iconic landscape.”

This isn’t the first time Grand Staircase-Escalante has been in the administration’s crosshairs. Trump shrank the monument in 2017, but its original borders were reaffirmed in 2021 under the Biden administration.

Grand Staircase-Escalante was established as a national monument in 1996 to protect geological, ecological, and paleontological resources in southern Utah. It was the first monument managed by the BLM and was the first unit in the agency’s National Conservation Lands program. The Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Zuni Tribe helped to lead monument designation.

A recent analysis found that from 2001 to 2022, non-labor income in the Grand Staircase-Escalante region grew from $166 million to $330 million, a 99 percent increase. Additionally, jobs grew by 51 percent, and real per capita income increased by 41 percent. The analysis also noted that protected natural amenities, such as the cliffs, slot canyons, and desert vistas found at the monument, help sustain property values and attract new investment.

A separate study found that three in four Utah voters, including a majority of Republicans, want to keep Grand Staircase-Escalante as a national monument.

“The Utah Delegation’s attack on the Grand Staircase-Escalante is a call to action for Americans from across the nation,” said Steve Bloch, legal director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “This wild landscape is quintessential southern Utah redrock country with its stunning geology, irreplaceable cultural resources, unique fossils, and wide-open spaces. All of that is at risk if this attack succeeds and the monument management plan is undone. We intend to move heaven and earth to stop that from happening.”