Congress could soon vote to undermine protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This would overturn the current Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument Management Plan, and constitutes a serious threat with implications for all national monuments and their respective management plans.
Designated in 1996, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument protects nearly 1.9 million acres of extraordinary landscapes in southern Utah -- home to towering stone arches, winding slot canyons, dinosaur fossils, and cultural and archaeological sites of deep importance to Native American Tribes. It is a sanctuary for wildlife, a place of dark skies and quiet, and is enjoyed by around a million visitors each year.
Today, the monument is guided by a comprehensive management plan shaped through years of public input from Tribal nations, local and state leaders, ranchers, recreationists, and conservation groups. This plan prioritizes protecting the monument's ecological integrity and cultural heritage while supporting traditional uses and sustainable visitation.
Lawmakers are attempting to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke the monument's management plan--a dangerous and unprecedented move. This Congress has already begun using the CRA to overturn Bureau of Land Management resource plans and to attempt to allow toxic mining in the watershed of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This would be the first-ever use of the CRA to attack a national monument -- setting a troubling precedent for public lands across the country.
Send a message to Congress urging them to vote NO on this reckless resolution and defend Grand Staircase-Escalante.
