Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
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Josie Bassett
Iris
Ms. Millie Vanillie
Patrick
PAWtners!
Welcome to a whole slew of canine friends who support the Monument: Loki, Dasher, Pogo, Smokey, Ms. MillieVanillie, and Puq who all recently became official GSEP PAWtners!
Your Monument companion can be a PAWtner too, for a $25 annual donation. In return, you will receive a special PAWtners sticker, your pet’s photo in our gallery, and a digital toolkit that reviews desert safety and etiquette.
Becoming a PAWtner means your four-legged friend joins a community of animal lovers who care about Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Our program informs visitors about hazards specific to the region, explains pet etiquette expectations, and recognizes the pet that has made your trips to the Monument so special.
Your donation helps support restoration, education, and stewardship efforts to ensure these lands and the adventures they inspire last for generations to come.
Welcome to our new PAWtners, and say hello if you run into them on the Monument.
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Statement on Presidential Proclamations that Reduce the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners today opposes two Presidential Proclamations that reduce the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments by approximately 90% each. The actions threaten the future of these historically, scientifically, Tribally, and economically important sites and the gateway communities that depend on them. The Proclamations show that all National Monuments and cherished landscapes across the country are at risk.
April 2026 Newsletter
It’s Earth Day! We will be partnering with the Xerces Society and joined by Hogle Zoo staff for bumble bee survey training this May 20, 21, & 22 in Kanab and Escalante, Utah. Visit the Bumble Bee Atlas Bioblitz page to register for your preferred date and location. Some of you may have received a slightly different version of this email yesterday, but I didn’t want any bumble bee lovers to miss out on the opportunity in May.
Have Lee and Maloy found the loophole that undoes Monument protections?
Will the sun set on the Monument’s hard-won 2025 Resource Management Plan?
January 2026 Newsletter
Will this area near Grosvenor Arch still be part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument at the end of 2026? Not if the Utah delegation has its way.
December 2025 Newsletter
Here, at the end of the year, I’ll take a few minutes of your time to introduce our new staff and some practices that I’m trying out to recognize cycles in life and our work.
November 2025 Newsletter
Time seems to get lost in the chaos these days, but I’ve finally had minute to gather my thoughts for this month’s GSEP newsletter. The government shutdown continues unabated, but we have been in discussions with the BLM about how our new staff can start to help, which brings us to a big welcome for our new staff: Mary Peek, Mackenzie Morgan, and Katie Woodward. Mary and Mackenzie arrived last week, and will lead our Stewardship and Sustainable Visitation Program as Stewardship Project Coordinators based in Kanab (Mary) and Escalante (Mackenzie).
Escalante’s Ancient Desert Drifter
Genetic analysis indicates that the Four Corners Potato was cultivated, transported, and spread by ancient peoples across the Southwest.
Summer 2025 Newsletter
This year continues to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride for us here at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. The funding for our fabulous programs has been frozen, unfrozen, refrozen, partially released, and now possibly rescinded – just in the first seven months of 2025! Most recently, the U.S. House of Representatives inserted a section into the appropriations bill that would link funding for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to an outdated management plan from 2020. This action makes it even more difficult for Bureau of Land Management staff to do their work because the Monument is legally bound by a newer management plan that was approved this year. You can learn about the havoc this bill might cause in this recent article on the bill.
The uncertain future of plant adaptation in GSENM
How will plants adapt to the rapid pace of climate change, and what actions are needed to preserve crucial communities?
