 |
| Grand Staircase Escalante Partners is pleased to share that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) signed the Record of Decision for the final Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) on January 6, 2025. The plan is effective immediately and was written for the specific purposes of protecting and restoring the objects identified in previous Presidential Proclamations. Construction of this plan took over two years of work, and was reliant on input from local communities, the general public, the state of Utah, Tribal Nations, and many other collaborative partners. Highlights of the plan include new recreation management guidelines, the application of well-defined Best Management Practices, and the implementation of a monitoring plan to measure how the area responds to management practices. The new plan protects old growth trees, live or dead, because of the role that both live and dead old growth trees play for wildlife and erosion control. The plan limits the use of non-native plant species, and emphasizes the use of native plant species during restoration projects. The use of native plant species will establish native plant communities and the wildlife that evolved with them in the GSENM. More details are available in the 220 page long document, “Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan,” which is available at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/570/. |
