Utah Lawmakers Move To Undo Grand Staircase-Escalante’s Management Plan

Editor's note: This updates with reaction from the National Parks Conservation Association.

Conservation groups reacted with outrage Wednesday to news that members of Utah's congressional delegation had introduced legislation that could unravel the management plan for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy introduced a joint resolution to undo the management plan through the Congressional Review Act. The move comes after Lee submitted the Government Accountability Office (GAO) opinion regarding the Monument Management Plan to the Congressional Record last week.

If both chambers of Congress pass the measure by simple majority votes, the 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 current plan sets expectations for how the monument will be managed for recreation, camping and outdoor access, collaboration with Tribal Nations, dark night skies, grazing, and other uses.

“The Utah delegation appears to be hellbent on undermining our public lands and undoing years of work by local officials, tribes, and community members,” said Thomas Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “Our national monuments belong to the American people and should not be managed in ways that are clouded by uncertainty. This is yet another attempt by Utah politicians to hand over our public lands to industry. Every member of Congress should reject this and any other misguided CRA attack on our public lands.”

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.”

“Utahns include Tribal Nations. We are part of this state’s history, present, and future. Undermining tribal collaboration undercuts trust, weakens public land management, and threatens the integrity of monuments nationwide,” Davina Smith-Idjesa, member of the Navajo Nation explained. “True leadership would strengthen government-to-government relationships, not disregard them.”

At the National Parks Conservation Association, Cory MacNulty, the group's Southwest campaign manager, called the politicians' legislation "a blatant attack that fundamentally ignores the purpose of this monument and the voices of the people who value and fought so hard to protect it. It was decided 30 years ago that Grand Staircase-Escalante would be protected for its remarkable landscape and scientific and historic resources and the monument is strongly supported by the American people.

"Now, members of Utah’s congressional delegation want to throw out years of work designing a careful management plan that involved tribal consultation and community voices," added MacNulty. "This is another thinly veiled attempt to exploit this landscape for mining, oil and gas drilling, unchecked OHV use and more."

Grand Staircase-Escalante also faced uncertainty in 2017 when the first Trump administration shrank its borders. However, the original borders were reaffirmed in 2021 under the Biden administration.

“The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is an iconic landscape that is once again at risk of being carved up for short-term gain,” said Axie Navas, director of designation campaigns at The Wilderness Society. “Our national monuments represent our freedom, and they preserve the beauty and stories that define us as a country. We must protect our public lands today so that future generations may inherit a legacy of wonder, inspiration and the enduring promise of America’s best idea.”