Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Honor the past and safeguard the future of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument through science, conservation, and education.
What we Do
Our Focus
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) 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.
For Science
This 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
The Monument is home to countless Native American cultural sites, western pioneer history, and the greatest diversity of dinosaur fossils found anywhere on Earth. 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.
To learn about the Tribes that have deep connections to the Grand Staircase-Escalante region, click here
Science
Expanding knowledge and understanding of the natural wonders, biodiversity, and unique ecosystems with which this landscape is endowed by participating in scientific inquiry and historical investigation, as well as advocating for the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in land management decision-making.
Conservation
Ensuring Grand Staircase-Escalante’s culture, ecology, history, recreation, and science are recognized, sustained, and enhanced. Work on the ground with organizations, government agencies, and volunteers to repair and restore the Escalante River watershed, as well as prevent and mitigate damage at cultural and ecological sites.
Education
Providing in-person and virtual learning environments in which people can engage with Monument topics, and practice critical thinking, as well as exchange ideas, and learn from one another, thereby fostering the connection and understanding needed to support the Monument’s long term well-being and respect ancestral lands.
For All
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners is committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive environment in our workplace and across the Monument. 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, Jemez Pueblo, and Acoma nations.
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.
Latest News
A Part of the Greater Ecosystem
As a local landowner, business owner, and rancher, Brandie Hardman could never look at her land the same way again after taking a permaculture class. She was able to notice the benefits of beaver returning to the land, and has mimicked their return by creating wetland...
The Leading Edge
A visitor to southern Utah since his teenage years, Garett Rose keeps being drawn back to the area. Here—and in Grand Staircase-Escalante in particular—he is struck by the ever-present immediacy of geologic time. It is written into the physical landscape and provides...
Lessons from the Grand Staircase
"I decided to respond to your invite and share my views or experiences related to the landscape, which I love to visit and would even love to make my home. Hiking through areas of the Grand Staircase means seeing and feeling the openness of a rugged landscape. Just by...
Preservation of Discovery
"Discovering great places is at the heart of why CoolWorks exists. But beyond discovering and spending time working among the natural treasures of our country, we hope that the people who use our site will become conservationists, to appreciate how fragile natural...
Small Town Connections
Bob King first fell in love with Grand Staircase through his travels, and happened to be guided by Montana Horchler – a local of Escalante – on a tour in the Pacific Northwest. When he asked where the best place would be to donate to help protect Grand Staircase,...
Giving Back to Grand Staircase
"As I have settled into my position with Partners and life in Escalante, a question has risen in my mind: Why am I here? The past eight months, that question has been largely subconscious, below the surface, answered satisfactorily by the anxiousness and adrenaline of...
