The good news is that we can both support our local economies and protect the special lands that these economies depend on. We hope to keep intact the land use plan for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
In its 29 years, this monument has been the reason that the local economy has grown, more so than in surrounding counties without national monuments. With monument visitation now nearing one million a year, jobs have grown by 51% between 2001 and 2022 and over half of the local economy is based on monument-related service jobs such as doctors, hospitality workers and teachers. The monument has attracted international interest, which has brought new business, stabilized and enlarged existing traveler support business, and enhanced related businesses.
Retiree populations are attracted to areas with protected public lands that reflect a high quality of life. The result is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of new non-labor income in the Grand Staircase-Escalante region. Thanks to this monument, non-labor income has grown by 99% from 2001 to 2022 in this region.
This monument was established to protect one of the last large-scale, unspoiled natural landscapes in the lower 48 states, for the purposes of scientific investigations. President Trump described this monument’s dinosaurs and numerous other species as providing the “most continuous records of Late Cretaceous terrestrial life in the world” and qualify the area as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, the monument must include management to prevent theft, vandalism and unintentional impacts.
As the ancestral home to many Native American tribes for generations, this monument’s traditional and cultural sites also need protection from vandalism.
The Grand Staircase (when considered with the Grand Canyon) presents over 300 million years of geologic history, each strata a stair step. In describing this monument, Trump continues that this staircase represents “an unbroken sequence of cliffs and plateaus, considered to be the most colorful exposed geologic section in the world.”
This was the first national monument established with science as a program. Dozens of other important scientific research have occurred in the monument, many benefitting our larger world. Recent research on pollinating bees discovered over 660 different bee species in this monument. What we learn from the protection of this monument will guide how we need to act elsewhere to protect agriculture, watersheds and our economy.
Recently a letter from many business owners in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument gateway was sent to several congressional offices. The 44 local businesses signing the letter argued that the monument’s plan was a “durable approach to managing visitation, protecting resources, and sustaining the values that make this region such a desirable place to live, work, and visit.” Now, we may face congressional action to revoke the monument plan. “That kind of instability directly threatens jobs, local tax revenues, and the livelihoods of families who have built businesses around a protected and well-managed Monument.”
The best way to honor and protect the remarkable landscape we all love and also help local business is to keep intact this monument’s plan.
Franque Bains
Chapter Director, Utah Sierra Club