Grand Staircase on the Line — Comment by July 10!

July 06 2017

Ellen Morris Bishop

Mary O'Brien by Mary O’Brien, Utah Forests Director

One day last summer, in a remote spot in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, I saw petrified logs so perfectly preserved they looked like they could burn in a fireplace that night. An hour later I was looking at living biological soil crust growing next to 80 million-year-old, petrified, biological soil crust.

Deep time like this is one thing to be excited about in Grand Staircase. What’s your connection to the monument?

Due to unremitting pressure from Utah’s congressional delegation, the 1.8 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is one of the two monuments (along with Bears Ears National Monument) that are central targets of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s review of 27 monuments for which public comments are due July 10. Secretary Zinke is asking you to comment on whether to shrink, erase — or maybe, as an alternative, keep and treasure — Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Perhaps you have already sent comments in for Bears Ears during its first public comment period or plan to submit your thoughts during the extended comment period that ends July 10.

Now, please write in support of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument ›

Why is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, established 21 years ago, even in question?

Utah’s congressional delegation and some local county commissioners in southern Utah have never stopped being mad at President Bill Clinton for establishing this monument in 1996 because of the coal deposits on the Kaiparowits Plateau. Twenty-one years later, after 15 new dinosaur species have been discovered where that coal thankfully remains sequestered, they want Secretary Zinke and President Trump to kick that monument off the map — or shrink it.

You would think that, by now, Grand Staircase-National Monument would be safe. But it isn’t. Please comment before July 10.

What should you write?

A brief, personalized comment is perfect and can be just as important as a long, persuasive document. Remember to keep your comments positive and appeal to the wisdom of protecting this large, world-renowned, and wild monument. Here is an outline of how you might approach your comments:

Start with who you are and your personal connection to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Identify credentials that may distinguish your comment from others. Do you, your child, or your grandchild think dinosaurs are cool? Are you a geology buff? Local business owner? Do you like to see remnants of Mormon history? Are you a slot canyon enthusiast? Someone who has visited the backcountry? Interested in searching for the monument’s several hundred bee species?
Clearly state your position in support of keeping Grand Staircase-Escalante a national monument.
Support your comment with your experiences and facts (see some below).
Describe how you would regard a reversal of a 21-year old monument.
End with your request to keep Grand Staircase-Escalante as it is

Points to include in your comments

Grand Staircase-Escalante is highly valued as the “science” monument

The Antiquities Act encourages presidents to designate monuments for their “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, [or] other objects of historic or scientific interest.” Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been called the “science monument” because of its dinosaurs, its grand staircase of geological revelations, and its diverse communities of plants and wildlife that are adapted to the desert, canyons, and plateaus. All that “aha!” science requires big spaces.

Congress approved the monument’s boundaries

Shortly after designation of the monument, Congress approved slight adjustments to the boundaries, thereby firmly establishing current boundaries. In other words, it wasn’t just Clinton who set the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The monument is economically beneficial

Due to the monument’s remoteness, huge trucking costs, and lack of market, Andalex Corporation, which could have dug coal after the monument was established, was happy to have the federal government buy out their leases for $14 million.

Utah’s school children have also benefited economically from trading state lands out of the monument for more productive hydrocarbon lands in northeast Utah.

Kanab, Escalante, and Boulder businesses and communities are thriving from the ever-increasing regional, national, and worldwide visitation the monument generates through its deep time, big spaces, narrow canyons, and diverse discoveries.