GSEP April Newsletter

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Grand Staircase Escalante Partners took part in the Conservation Lands Foundation Fly-in to visit legislators at the Capitol in Washington DC this April.

Photo provided by Jackie Grant, 2025.

Dear Grand Staircase,

Let's start with some good news: about half of our frozen Federal funding has been restored! This means that our Russian olive removal program can move forward this year along with components of our stewardship and native plant programs. Thank you all for your support in helping us bridge the gap with your donations! We are still working on the return of about $300,000 of Congressionally approved funds for our work, which led me to Washington, DC the first week of April. The trip was sponsored by Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF), which is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and expanding America’s National Conservation Lands. I'm very thankful for their support!

I was able to speak with staffers from the offices of Senator Mike Lee, Senator John Curtis, and Congresswoman Celeste Maloy. As expected, they were united in their commitment to reduce the sizes of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. However, we still delivered our message that (1) America's public lands shouldn't be for sale, (2) the Antiquities Act should be left alone, and (3) the Bureau of Land Management should be provided with the funding it needs to do the job Americans want it to do!

Another success we saw this month was the formation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Inter-Tribal Coalition. Members include Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Zuni Tribe. The creation of the GSENM Inter-Tribal Coalition marks a key point in the history of the Monument.

The rest of April will see the Grand Staircase Escalante Partners team participating in the Utah Trails Conference in Kanab, where I will be leading a panel discussion related to trails in national monuments, and our Stewardship Programs Manager, Kaitlin, will deliver a hands-on workshop. We will spend the rest of the month getting our programs running in high gear, and assessing how the latest set of coal clutching Executive Orders could impact our work.

Remember the positive effects that volunteering and building community can have on your health, and join us however you can. Thanks for being part of our community!

-Jackie

Your donations enable our stewardship, native plant and conservation work.

GSEP Newsletter for April, 2025

How Much Is the Monument Worth?

At the national level, our legislators are debating the value of places like Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), and whether or not to sell them off or lease them for extraction. For example, the value of all coal extracted from the state of Utah in 2024 was estimated at $507.6 million dollars (Utah Geological Survey). That seems like a decent amount, but what might be the non-extractive value of the Monument?

One way to think about the non-extractive value of land is to frame the land's value in terms of the ecosystem services it provides by existing in a relatively undisturbed state. Ecosystem services include activities such as water purification, pollination, and artistic inspiration. Many, many other types of ecosystem services are generated by places such as Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

I wanted to know whether or not the value of ecosystem services even came close to the value of coal. It will not surprise you that the answer is no - ecosystem services were worth far more! I used estimates from an economics paper published in 2012 to calculate how much value our national monuments provide in today's dollars. GSENM provides ecosystem services valued between $1.8 and $3.5 billion dollars per year, every year. When taken together, the 34 national monuments I assessed were shown to contribute around $20 billion dollars of annual ecosystem services that, in all reality, are truly priceless.

-Jackie Grant, Executive Director

As indicated by the darker colors, Utah and California monuments provide the greatest value of ecosystem services in the states measured. Dig deeper into this data viz on Tableau Public.

Data viz provided by Dr. Jackie Grant, 2025.

Update from the GSEP Conservation Program

The fourth annual Grand Staircase-Escalante Symposium was held on March 20-22 at the Interagency Visitor Center in Escalante. The Symposium, sponsored by the Escalante River Watershed Partnership, brought together land managers, Tribes, researchers, conservation groups, and the interested public to gain knowledge and discuss multiple perspectives on land and water, ecosystem management issues, and ways people engage with the landscape.

The Symposium featured 25 speakers over two days, plus workshops, field trips, and evening programs including a film screening and astronomy night.

All talks were recorded, and will be uploaded to the ERWP website soon. If you'd like to be added to the ERWP mailing list, let me know at kevin@gsenm.org.

- Kevin Berend, Conservation Programs Manager

Photo by Kevin Berend

Photo by Jason Pulver

Over $58,000 Raised in 2025

Thank you to many of you who have supported GSEP this year. Now more than ever, we're grateful to have public lands advocates doing their part to help protect these landscapes.

If you're interested in supporting our work this year, you can donate here!

- Jason Pulver, Development Director

Update from the GSEP Stewardship Program

We have had a great start to the 2025 volunteer season with our camping impact and clean-up day on Spencer Flat Road in late March. Six volunteers donated 50 hours of their time to remove 28 pounds of trash and charcoal and remediate nearly 4,000 feet of vehicle trespass.

Interested in Stepping Up for Grand Staircase through a hands-on volunteer project? We have two opportunities in May that still have spots! You can help us remediate graffiti at Dry Fork Narrows with Hiking My Feelings May 1st-4th or join for our single day project in Willis Creek May 31st.

Can't make it to any of our spring projects? Keep an eye out in May - we will be releasing our 2025 Fall projects in this newsletter and on our volunteer portal!

-Kaitlin Martin, Stewardship Programs Manager

Photo by Victor Coulon

March Poll Results!

Science on the Monument

Last month we brought your attention to the Monument's new Science Plan, and asked you what type of science interests you the most. The answer was all of it! The pie chart below looks awfully similar to a pinwheel because of how evenly your interests were distributed. Science related to wildlife and botany were the top two in the poll, but interest across areas was relatively even. We will do our best to keep you updated on scientific research as it occurs throughout the Monument.

-Jackie Grant, Executive Director