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| Lower Calf Creek Falls In GSENM |
Utah is an amazing place with some of our nations most unique and remote landscapes and ecosystems. Connecting the Vermilion Cliffs, Glen Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park and Capital Reef is Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and let me tell you it is grand! Originally the monument encompassed nearly 1.9 million acres of land. Today it has been reduced to around half that size. The reduction by president Trump was strategically done to allow for oil and gas extraction throughout the state. After traveling through and around the Grand Staircase its obvious that the petrochemical industry will ravage this land if we let them. Not only does Grand Staircase contain ecological systems and land features found nowhere else in the world, there are thousands of archeological sites throughout.
Trumps newly appointed head of the Bureau of Land Management "has written extensive critiques of federal ownership of land,
the government, and environmentalists. Most recently, Pendley has
tweeted in support of opening federal lands to mining and oil and gas
extraction." His tweet says, "I've said it before and will say it again, fracking is an energy, economic, AND environmental miracle!" This guy believes his job should in essence be elimated when the government sells all of its land to those who can make money extracting all the resources from it. He doesn't believe land should be protected, but believes it should all be privately owned.
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| Petrified Wood in Grand Staircase. | |
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A Canadian firm has already purchased the mineral rights to a portion of the land that has been removed from the monument. But, the fight isn't over. It is unclear whether a president can reduce the size of publicly protected lands. This battle is heating up in the courts. It's going to take continued support from all of us to keep the gas and oil in the ground and protect our common lands.
To support the efforts to protect Grand Staircase and Bears Ears National Monuments check out
Grand Canyon Trust.
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| Riparian zone and wetland created by beavers in Grand Staircase. |
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