Mason Cummings, TWS
Mining threats loom over iconic landscape and fossil beds
For years, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been coveted by powerful interests who wish to open it to mining and drilling.
This extraordinary gem of the Southwest holds breathtaking geology, remarkable biodiversity and world-class archaeological and fossil sites. Future generations deserve to inherit the freedom to explore its colorful canyons and mesas, to learn from its history and to honor cultural traditions rooted in these lands held sacred by many Tribal Nations.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument features vast mazes of red rock slot canyons, otherworldly hoodoos and vibrant mesas. Its lands are important to numerous Tribal Nations, as well as to scientists who study its rich biodiversity, significant archaeological sites and remarkable fossil record.
The threat
For years, the current administration and Utah allies in Congress have sought to open Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to mining and oil and gas drilling.
In 2017, President Trump’s first administration went so far as to reduce the monument’s boundaries by nearly half, leaving fossil and archaeological sites vulnerable to looting. The Biden administration restored the boundaries in 2021. Tribes and local communities then worked with the Bureau of Land Management to create a monument management plan focused on protecting the lands while enabling outdoor recreation and livestock grazing.
But once again, Utah politicians are attempting to unravel protections, using a top-down approach that ignores local input.
Today, we’re working to stop congressional or executive proposals that would further undermine the monument or open it to development.
What we're doing
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Fighting in Congress
We’re fighting against legislative attempts to undo protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We’re also fighting proposals that seek to prevent future protection of places like Grand Staircase-Escalante as national monuments.
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Sharing monument stories
We’re letting the administration know just how popular national monuments are. Throughout the West, communities support national monuments. And in Utah alone, 86% of residents believe existing national monument designations for some public lands protected over the last decade should be kept in place, according to the 2026 Conservation in the West poll.
