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Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument — larger than all five of Utah’s national parks combined — is one of the most extraordinary landscapes in America. It was protected because it matters: to science, to history, and to the people who call this region home. Its cliffs and canyons hold fossils that reshape our understanding of life on Earth, sacred and historic sites that carry deep cultural meaning, and fragile desert ecosystems found nowhere else.
But protection on paper is not enough.
Grand Staircase–Escalante Partners is a rural nonprofit rooted in the communities that surround the Monument. We work alongside local residents, scientists, land managers, and Tribal partners to care for this place every day. We support research and education, preserve cultural memory, improve trails and habitat, and create opportunities for local people to stay connected to the land and benefit from it responsibly.
The Monument’s future depends on steady, local stewardship. Our job is to make sure this landscape — and the communities tied to it — remain strong for generations to come.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is one of the most treasured natural landscapes in the country. It is world-renowned for its beauty, significance to Tribes, incredible fossil record, outstanding recreation, awe-inducing solitude, and diversity of life.
The Stars and Stripes are beloved by the American people, yet over 80% of Americans will never see the most famous stars of all: the Milky Way. Because of its size and protected boundaries, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is one of the few places left where the Milky Way can still be seen.
The reduction of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by 90% opens up the surrounding areas to development and light pollution that will negatively impact the protected objects in the Monument.
Photos by Jack Dykinga
Jul 27
Protecting Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument includes boots on the ground stewardship. Last week, we backpacked with 8 volunteers along the Escalante River. We packed out 21 pounds of trash, 139 pounds of tires and removed 36 feet of graffiti and 6 fire rings.
Please always follow Leave No Trace policies.
Always pack out your trash (& other trash you find!), use wag bags to carry out your waste, and NO campfires in the Escalante Canyons. Fires are currently banned throughout the monument and state during these stage 2 fire conditions. Happy Hiking!
Jul 25
Take action for National Monuments! Conservation Lands Foundation has created a multi-step tool to sign the petition to President Trump letting him know you oppose shrinking these national monuments and to send an email to your members of Congress asking them to publicly oppose these actions.
Link in our IG bio: https://www.conservationlands.org/monuments
Jul 21
What’s removed from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument according to the new executive order? A lot. Including the actual Grand Staircase formations. 🤯 But even the areas still within the monument are left vulnerable.
The reduction of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by 90% opens up the surrounding areas to development and light pollution that will negatively impact the protected objects in the Monument.
This action against Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments is another attempt to remove public access to public lands and sell them off to the highest bidder.
Link in bio to GSEP’s press-release about the monument reductions.
Jul 20
Despite the Monument attacks, our mission remains unchanged. We will continue showing up for this land through hands-on stewardship, community building, and a shared commitment to caring for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
We are excited to announce our 2026 fall stewardship projects! This autumn, we are offering a variety of projects in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument including seed collection, graffiti remediation, trash pick-up, campsite clean-up and so much more!
As the Cottonwood tree leaves turn gold, we`d love to be out on the monument working with you in these amazing places:
🍂September 6th: Seed Collection Workshop Near Kanab
⭐️September 24th: Tin Can Flat Clean-Up for Public Lands Day!
🍂October 4th-10th: Russian Olive Removal with Wilderness Volunteers
⭐️October 15th: Spencer Flat Camping Impact and Clean-Up
🍂October 22nd-24th: Dry Fork Narrows and Hole in the Rock Clean-Up
⭐️November 5th-7th Burr Trail Clean-Up
🍂November 14th Toadstools Clean-Up
⭐️November 21st North End TBA Clean-Up
For more details and sign up information go to the link in our bio!
https://sites.google.com/gsenm.org/stewardship-project-site-draft/stewardship-projects/2026-projects
Jul 17
“There is so much that is out of the map that it’s hard to take it all in,” said Dr. Jackie Grant, executive director of Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners.
New story for KSL News linked in our bio: https://www.ksl.com/article/51598331/new-maps-show-landmarks-removed-from-bears-ears-grand-staircase-escalante-national-monuments
Jul 16
National Monuments do not prevent public access to public lands. These were and remain federal lands. In Grand Staircase-Escalante, 16 Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) remain and are managed as Wilderness Areas (the highest level of land protection).
Monuments do prevent new mining and energy extraction leases. The massive 90% reductions in Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments opens the door to extraction, contamination, and selling off public lands.
Here are the maps of the redrawn boundaries provided by @wildernesssociety.
Please write your members of Congress and urge them to oppose these actions. Link in our bio.
Jul 15
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners today opposes two Presidential Proclamations that reduce the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. 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.
Reducing the boundaries of national monuments should be of concern to every American because these public lands and dark night skies belong to all of us. This action against Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments is another attempt to remove public access to public lands and sell them off to the highest bidder. Fragmenting the Monument will deprive the public of the region’s most meaningful experiences and deepest benefits, while also harming the plants and animals that live there. If you are a hunter, angler, stargazer, photographer, camper,
scientist, Indigenous person, birdwatcher, or anyone else who benefits from public lands then this action should concern and galvanize you.
Jul 13
In Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the already colorful rocks are often splashed with shades of green and orange lichens. Lichens are a symbiotic partnership between two organisms—fungi and algae. By joining forces, the fungi help the alga live in a wider range of climates. They are a food source for many animals and support healthy soils. Because lichens absorb everything from their environment, including pollutants, they provide us important information.
There are approximately 3,600 species of lichen in North America.
Sources: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/about.shtml
Photo: https://www.nps.gov/articles/seug-lichens.htm
Jul 12
