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Where can you find more natural stone arches, Arches National Park or Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument?
Photo provided by Jack Dykinga, 2013.
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Dear Grand Staircase,
When you think of natural stone arches in Utah, you probably think of Arches National Park. But, did you know that the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is home to 2,517 natural stone arches? That's 517 more than Arches National Park! You can learn more about arches in the Monument, including how to report and name a new arch from archesoftheescalante.com. Community-led efforts such as the Arches of the Escalante project become more important every day because data and information formerly provided by the Federal government is not just being censored, but completely removed from our grasp.
That first paragraph turned dark pretty quickly, but it's accurate for what we are experiencing. Today, two legislators from Utah and Nevada made the first moves to openly sell off public lands. The Environmental Protection Agency terminated its entire Mountains and Plains Grants Hub, which was a program that helped communities prepare for environmental health and safety issues and reduce risks to human health. Last week, a leaked document revealed the Administration's plans to reduce the size of several national monuments to open them up for energy extraction. You know that the list included Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
How do we keep our heads up during this time? We focus on the positive and what is under our control. Another one of our grants was unfrozen after a ruling by a judge who was appointed by President Trump. This means that we can proceed with a project to create a Paiute Native Plant Center that will produce seedlings to be used for restoration after natural disasters such as wildfires. We are down to "just" $180,000 in frozen funds, but we can make this work with some programmatic changes. We've also been successful at bringing in some new grants related to trails and stewardship, and we have our eyes on a new, pilot program from the state of Utah, "Adopt the Outdoors."
Finally, a spate of solid rainy weather has my hopes up because of its promise for a productive seed collecting season after an incredibly dry winter. As always, thank you for being part of our community, and for your continued support during these trying times.
-Jackie
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Gorgeous geologic formations on the Monument greeted me during the first seed scouting trip of the season. The white and red stripes are a product of the Carmel formation's layers of assorted sandstones.
Photo provided by Jackie Grant, 2025.
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I encountered my first individual of the big seed milkweed (Asclepias macrosperma) during a quick scouting trip on the Monument. The yellow flowers give it away as an unusual milkweed.
Photo provided by Jackie Grant, 2025.
| | | Your donations enable our stewardship, native plant and conservation work. | | GSEP Newsletter for May, 2025 | |
Update from the GSEP Conservation Program
I'm happy to announce that GSEP's riparian restoration program is back in full swing for 2025. We've rehired Field Supervisor Alex Engel and Field Technician Adrian Canilho-Burke to continue retreatment of Russian olive in the Escalante River watershed. In April, they were joined by a crew from Utah Conservation Corps for an eight-day hitch to retreat Russian olive on Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is an exotic shrub that was planted for erosion control in the 1950s, and by the 1980s invaded the entire Escalante River drainage, causing widespread detrimental impacts to riparian and aquatic habitats, biodiversity, and hydrologic function. For sixteen years, GSEP has led efforts to remove Russian olive from over 8,000 acres of streamside habitat on pubic and private lands of the Escalante and its tributaries, the largest project of its kind ever undertaken in the Southwest. Annual monitoring indicates that Russian olive remains below target levels, and native riparian species such as cottonwoods and willows are rebounding. As co-chair of the Escalante River Watershed Partnership, I help to coordinate these efforts and other watershed-related projects with our state, federal, tribal, university, and nonprofit partners across the region.
We're grateful to Forever Our Rivers Foundation, Utah Department of Agriculture & Food, Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, & State Lands, and Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative for their continued support of this crucial work.
- Kevin Berend, Conservation Programs Manager
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What's a Donor Advised Fund?
Donor-advised funds are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the United States because they are one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways to give to charity.
A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a charitable account where you can set aside money for charitable giving, receive a potential tax deduction, and then recommend grants to qualified charities over time. It's like a charitable investment account, allowing you to organize your philanthropy and potentially grow your donations tax-free.
Interested in learning how to support GSEP through a DAF? Email jason@gsenm.org
- Jason Pulver, Development Director
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Update from the GSEP Stewardship Program
Our Fall 2025 volunteer projects are now LIVE! Looking for a fun way to give back to Grand Staircase? We have a variety of fantastic stewardship opportunities available August through November and we would love to see you out in the field. You can visit our webpage at gsenm.org/volunteer to learn about our projects and sign up.
Not convinced? One of our volunteers had this to say about our projects this spring: "You might have various reasons for wanting to go on a volunteer trip, but in my case at least, the complete experience was much broader than my original "I just want to do something to contribute" feeling. It was great to meet new people, to have fun working and socializing together, and to learn so much – both from GSEP and the BLM as well as from the other volunteers!"
-Kaitlin Martin, Stewardship Programs Manager
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Sometimes our furry friends pitch in with graffiti remediation in Wire Pass.
Photo by Kristen Buck
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GSENM Needs You!
Interested in defending the Monument? Marietta Eaton, former Bureau of Land Management Science Advisor for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, expresses a practical way YOU can help protect GSENM.
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Where is the Coal on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument?
Last month we asked if you knew where the coal deposits were on the Monument. Sixty-six of you responded, and most of you knew that the answer was the Kaiparowits Plateau. Utah state geologists estimate that this central section of the Monument holds up to 9 billion tons of recoverable coal. We are concerned about the price of coal, which currently ranges from $14-$78 per short ton, because of this large coal deposit in the central portion of the Monument (see map below).
The Department of the Interior has moved the agency away from conserving our public lands and promoting their recreation value to using them to restore the coal industry. In Utah, recreation alone generates 4.4 times as much economic output as coal and 13.9 times as much as grazing. Hidden within the value of our public lands is a facet of nature that we rarely discuss, ecosystem services.
Check out our last newsletter if you missed my review of ecosystem services. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument provides as much as $2.8 BILLION in ecosystem services every year, and this function is threatened by the potential for coal development on the Kaiparowits Plateau, oil and tar sands extraction in the Circle Cliffs area, and oil spills elsewhere on the Monument.
Stand with us to monitor these threats to the Monument as they continue to develop through Executive actions such as the establishment of the National Energy Dominance Council.
-Jackie Grant, Executive Director
| | Resource overview map from the Utah Geological Survey, 2021. Note the presence of a carbon dioxide (CO2) field near Escalante, Utah. Carbon dioxide is mined then used in the oil and gas industry to expedite extraction. The Escalante CO2 field is outside the boundaries of the Monument, but worth keeping an eye on. | | We want to hear from you! | | The Monument is known for fossils, but what Utah sports team is named after an extinct species? | | | | |
Thank you for your ongoing support.
We couldn't do it without you!
Jackie Grant (she/her/hers)
Executive Director
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Grand Staircase Escalante Partners | gsenm.org
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