Upcoming Events

Monumental Day of Action for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante

On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order that prompted the review of the unlawful shrinking of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. This week, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will visit with Utah leaders and the monuments. This visit will influence her recommendations to the President about how to proceed. We need your help to demonstrate a groundswell of support favoring the quick restoration of protections for these fragile, rich living cultural and ecological landscapes.

THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 9th we ask you voice your support for restoring these national monuments on social media. Post your photos, videos, and Tweets and be sure to include the tags: #MonumentsForAll
#StandWithBearsEars
#SaveGrandStaircase

RSVP to this event here for reminders and invite your friends. This Friday we’re going to send a clear message: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase deserve to be restored and protected!

Southern Paiute Astronomy

April 16, 2021 at 7:00pm MDT
In-person Event at Jacob Hamblin Park—North Pavilion in Kanab, UT
Masks are required. Bring your own lawn chair. Distancing based on household.
Autumn gillard will present a lecture based on the cultural connections that the Southern Paiute people have with the stars. The lecture will include work circulating on how information is collected currently and how it was collected in the early years. Autumn will cover information pertaining to how the stars influenced daily life, as well as giving descriptions of constellations and how they are meaningful to the Southern Paiute night sky. Autumn will also be covering how the study and interpretations of the solar system intertwined with the culture of the Southern Paiute people and how they are regarded. RSVP to the event here.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to Visit the Monument

In April, Secretary Haaland has announced a visit to Utah to speak with representatives and come to Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. To understand the significance of this visit, please check out our press release here. We’ll keep you up to date on any more information and ways to get involved.

Community Lecture with Bill Heyborne

Thursday, May 20, 2021 | Time TBD.

Herpetology in the Grand Staircase National Monument: Lessons Learned and Future Directions. Dr. William Heyborne is a native of Kanab, Utah, and an alumnus of Southern Utah University. With research interests in the diversity of living things, Dr. Heyborne obtained a master’s degree in entomology from Oregon State University, and PhD in biology (studying the chemical ecology of venomous snakes) from the University of Northern Colorado. With research interests spanning biological pedagogy to reptile and amphibian natural history, Dr. Heyborne regularly works with undergraduates on collaborative projects. He and his students are currently examining the effect of invasive exotic turtles in the Virgin River and the effect of pinyon/juniper management on reptile and amphibian communities.

Check back soon to register for this event.

Donate & Become a Member!

Our Focus

Grand Staircase Escalante Partners is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization founded in 2004 to protect and preserve Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  We are committed to:

Promoting science, conservation, and education on the Monument

Increasing public awareness and understanding of the Monument

Providing resources to support the Monument’s scientific, interpretive and educational programs

Expanding our membership so we represent a diverse constituency that supports the Monument

Our Programs

We achieve our mission through the following program areas:

Science: Expanding our knowledge and understanding of the natural wonders, biodiversity, and unique ecosystems with which this landscape is endowed by actively supporting and participating in scientific and historical investigation. This includes conducting climate change research as well as launching a climate change mitigation campaign aimed at raising awareness and inspiring action related to the protection of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and all public lands.

Conservation: Ensuring that Grand Staircase-Escalante’s assets —culture, ecology, history, recreation, and science—are recognized, sustained, and enhanced for posterity through collaborative on-the-ground restoration work and invasive species removal.

Education: Providing places and spaces where adults and youth can meet, exchange ideas, and participate in learning activities, resulting in the building of knowledge and expertise needed to advance local, national, and international interests in the Grand Staircase-Escalante region.

Our Monument

For science

Even today, this unspoiled natural area remains a frontier, a quality that greatly enhances Grand Staircase’s value for scientific study and presents unique opportunities for geologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, historians, and biologists.

For history

These nearly two million acres were designated as a national monument on September 18, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. Grand Staircase is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in 2000, became the first unit of BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System.

Since time immemorial, Native American people have inhabited, crossed, lived on, and been stewards of the lands that make up what we now know as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Hopi, Zuni, Dine/Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute, Kaibab Paiute, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Acoma nations have deep connections to the Grand Staircase region.

The Monument is home to countless Native American cultural sites, western pioneer history, and the greatest diversity of dinosaur fossils found anywhere on Earth.

For all.

Grand Staircase Escalante Partners is committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive environment in our workplace and across GSENM. We recognize the complex and difficult histories that have shaped American public lands, from dispossession of Native lands and forced removal of indigenous communities to create public lands and parks, to the ongoing exclusion of people of color from conservation and preservation movements. We acknowledge that the area known as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and its surrounding areas are the ancestral land and historical territory of the Hopi, Zuni, Dine/Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute, Kaibab Paiute, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Acoma nations.

As we carry out our work in conservation and education, we strive to ensure that:

  • Indigenous history and diverse perspectives are elevated in the story of GSENM.
  • We empower communities that have been marginalized and have not historically benefitted from our public lands.
  • We lead the transformation of GSENM to make it a place where all people not only have equal access to, but also feel safe and welcome to connect with the land, learn, visit and recreate.
  • Our organization operates inclusively and equitably, both internally and in broader relations with other organizations and individuals.

We are on a journey to transform our work–to foster diversity through equitable actions that create a just and inclusive environment, within and beyond our organization. Learn more about how we are integrating justice, equity, and inclusion into our work.