Republican broadside on major national monument triggers alarms

Republican US Sen. Mike Lee, a leading proponent of selling off the country’s public lands, moved Wednesday to begin the process expediting an attack on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in his home state of Utah, drawing outrage from conservationists who vowed to pull out all the stops to protect the national treasure.

Lee kick-started the process by entering a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) opinion into the congressional record. Last month, the GAO determined that a Biden-era management plan aimed at shielding Grand Staircase-Escalante constitutes a rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which gives lawmakers a limited time to undo federal rules after they are finalized.

In the coming days, Lee and his allies are expected to introduce a resolution of disapproval under the CRA in an effort to roll back the monument management plan. CRA resolutions are privileged and not subject to the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster, meaning Republicans could pass the measure without any Democratic support.

Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), who requested the GAO opinion, is leading the House effort to repeal the Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan.

Tom Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain office, said in a statement Thursday that “the fate of our public lands, including our precious national monuments, should not be left to a handful of politicians who want to turn them over to industry.”

“While this may be the first CRA attack on a national monument, it will not be the last if members of Congress on both sides of the aisle don’t stand up to oppose it,” Delehanty warned. “Sen. Lee’s use of this arcane law would throw out years of planning by local officials, Tribes, and communities, setting a dangerous precedent on public land protection. Anyone who values our public lands and national monuments should take note.”

The legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Steve Bloch, said the GOP’s escalating attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante “is a call to action for Americans from across the nation.”

“This wild landscape is quintessential southern Utah redrock country with its stunning geology, irreplaceable cultural resources, unique fossils, and wide-open spaces,” said Bloch. “All of that is at risk if this attack succeeds and the monument management plan is undone. We intend to move heaven and earth to stop that from happening.”

During his first term in the White House, President Donald Trump launched a massive assault on Grand Staircase-Escalante, shrinking it by nearly 50%—a move that former President Joe Biden reversed.

But the Washington Post reported last year that the Trump administration has considered assailing the national monument yet again as part of a broader push to open the nation’s public lands to commercial activity and industry exploitation.

Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club’s director of conservation, said Thursday that congressional Republicans’ use of the CRA to gut protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante is “unprecedented” and “unlawful.”

“Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is one of this country’s most treasured public landscapes, and the public has been involved from advocating for its protection to organizing its long-term management,” said Ritzman. “Overturning this plan erases years of public engagement and Tribal consultation, and threatens certainty for everyone who uses and enjoys this iconic landscape.”