Carly Ferro Carly.Ferro@sierraclub.org 801.467.9294 x100
SALT LAKE CITY -- Today the Department of the Interior released a final management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, despite ongoing legal challenges to the Trump administration’s illegal actions to shrink the monument. The plan opens significant portions of Grand Staircase to dirty fuel development.
“The motivation all along has been to exploit public lands to benefit the dirty fuel industry, regardless of the cultural, natural and economic costs. That’s not a price Utahns are willing to pay,” said Ashley Soltysiak, director of the Utah Sierra Club. “We’ll continue to fight for the protection of Grand Staircase-Escalante -- all of it.”
“The bottom line is that the Trump administration acted illegally when it stripped the lands of Grand Staircase-Escalante of national monument status. With this plan, Bernhardt’s Interior is clearly trying to let in mining and drilling before a court can overturn the rollbacks,” said Lena Moffitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.