Escalante Canyons National Park

[slc_dan]

I just re-stumbled upon this map in Desert Magazine from 1963 in their issue about then new Lake Powell. When I first saw this I laughed at the 'Hole-in-the-Rock Marina' with it's restaurants, hotels, campgrounds and 'trailer village'. Now all of a sudden this doesn't seem that unlikely anymore. Hell, if you told me they were going to build a tram down I almost wouldn't be surprised anymore. Or maybe a great bridge over Glen Canyon so they can follow the trail in the minivan all the way to Bluff...

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The big shadowy monster of this whole "Escalante National Park" is the looming reservoir. Glen Canyon is THE tale of worst case scenarios, and here we are next door with another ridiculous example.

Tell you what Utah Legislators. Drain the reservoir, fund a multi-million dollar clean up effort, and you can pave the HITRR. How's that for compromise?

 

[WasatchWill]

I just re-stumbled upon this map in Desert Magazine from 1963 in their issue about then new Lake Powell. When I first saw this I laughed at the 'Hole-in-the-Rock Marina' with it's restaurants, hotels, campgrounds and 'trailer village'. Now all of a sudden this doesn't seem that unlikely anymore. Hell, if you told me they were going to build a tram down I almost wouldn't be surprised anymore. Or maybe a great bridge over Glen Canyon so they can follow the trail in the minivan all the way to Bluff...

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No, no. NO!!! I hope to backpack that route one day from Dance Hall Rock all the way into Bluff one day with a pack raft to get across Powell (I still fear getting hammered by some speeding boat out there if I were to do it) and after setting some strategic water caches in a few areas, so I can walk in those pioneer footsteps and see that country the way they saw it, with the exception of the Powell crossing and a few highway crossings. Paving all that would ruin the adventure. Too many people out there now who insist on having all these modern comforts and amenities to access, experience, and enjoy these wild and remote places.

 

[Nick]

No, no. NO!!! I hope to backpack that route one day from Dance Hall Rock all the way into Bluff one day with a pack raft to get across Powell (I still fear getting hammered by some speeding boat out there if I were to do it) and after setting some strategic water caches in a few areas, so I can walk in those pioneer footsteps and see that country the way they saw it, with the exception of the Powell crossing and a few highway crossings. Paving all that would ruin the adventure. Too many people out there now who insist on having all these modern comforts and amenities to access, experience, and enjoy these wild and remote places.

You might want to make it someday this spring if you're serious about it. The paved road and state park are a very real possibility in the near future.

 

[WasatchWill]

You might want to make it someday this spring if you're serious about it. The paved road and state park are a very real possibility in the near future.

Sadly...I won't be able to make it happen this year. That kind of trip would have to happen when I'm able to dedicate a couple of weeks of vacation time to it at the expense of a variety of other trips in the year I choose to do it. If that state park does become a reality, that'll certainly suck...probably more for how much more crowded it'll make all those gulches feeding into the Escalante, than it would just to have a state park out there. While they're at it, they may as well make Devils Garden a state park too. At that point, I'd still consider backpacking along the pavement, perhaps cursing along the way, or just launch off from the actual HITR site at that point and save myself a day I guess. If they were to ever propose paving the other side though, on up to Castle Creek...well, that's when I'd break out the pitchfork.

 

[Nick]

I got this in the mail from Rep. Christ Stewart yesterday. For those of you also in his district, be sure to fill it out and send it back!

 

[swmalone]

I worry that many well meaning people might look at this as Stewart looking to protect that area rather than the bait and switch that it was obviously planned to be.

 

[WasatchWill]

That last question is very misleading. It implies that Utahns' access to public lands in Utah have been threatened or flat out restricted under previous designations and management plans. That or their definition of 'access' to any given plot of public land is for Utahns to be legally allowed to use ATVs and other motorized means of travel to go wherever the heck they want on said land.

 

[Jackson]

I got this in the mail from Rep. Christ Stewart yesterday. For those of you also in his district, be sure to fill it out and send it back!

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"It's time we made them a national treasure as well." Because they weren't a national treasure before all this happened?

My representative is John Curtis, so I probably won't get one of these. I'll be sure to let him know what I think about this though.

 

[Reef&Ruins]

If you are interested....

The BLM is now accepting comments in preparation for a new management plan for each of the three newly designated Monuments- Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits and Escalante Canyons and the lands that were excised from the rightful Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. You can read the Federal Register notice https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-00518.pdf .

There is now an email address that you may use to submit comments:
blm_ut_ccd_monuments@blm.gov
or Mail to: 669 S Hwy 89A Kanab, UT 84741.
Comments will be accepted for 60 days, or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is later. Public meetings have not been announced yet, but Partners will keep you informed of these important opportunities.
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners urges its members and all those determined to save the Monument to participate in the public comment process and to include the following points in your submissions;
1. The preparation of new Resource Management Plans should be postponed until the legal challenges to Proclamation 9682 of December 4, 2017 are resolved. Proceeding with the preparation of new plans at this time will very likely waste critical agency resources.
2. Until the legal actions challenging the recent modifications to the Monument are resolved, the BLM should agree to manage both included and excluded lands according to the 1999 GSENM Resource Management Plan.
3. The public comment period should extend to at least ninety days following the last public hearing.
4. Public hearings should be scheduled in Salt Lake City, Utah, Flagstaff, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, Washington D.C. and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in addition to the gateway communities of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

 

[Dan_85]

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environ...-to-the-full-140-mile-hole-in-the-rock-trail/

The asphalt is coming... :-(

 

[Jackson]

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environ...-to-the-full-140-mile-hole-in-the-rock-trail/

The asphalt is coming... :-(

How depressing. I remember seeing this discussed on here only as a distant possibility. I really hope this goes nowhere.

It also strikes me as quite a stretch to say that paving this road is going to reduce teen suicide rates in the state. But now, if you don't want it paved, they can say you're pro-teen-suicide.

 

[LarryBoy]

How depressing. I remember seeing this discussed on here only as a distant possibility. I really hope this goes nowhere.

It also strikes me as quite a stretch to say that paving this road is going to reduce teen suicide rates in the state. But now, if you don't want it paved, they can say you're pro-teen-suicide.

I personally oppose Utahn's access to public land, support teen suicide, and like to tip over people in wheelchairs while they're crossing busy streets.

 

[Nick]

WTF?!?!? And developing it will somehow show kids how hard it was to travel back in the 1800's?! Because I know that's how my mind worked as a kid driving down the freeway in the back of my parents car. I was always like "wow, this would be so hard to bring my cattle through, I think I won't kill myself after all!".

 

[WasatchWill]

The logic is befuddling. Why isn't the visitor centers in both Escalante and Bluff, at the beginning and end of the historic trail, enough in the way of connecting youth with the pioneer past? Matheson and his foundation have done an incredible job with those places, in my opinion, in preserving the history and honoring the pioneer history there and providing a places for people to learn and connect with it, and they're worth the visit as they are. Truly, it was an impressive expedition. And one can only get a full measure of just how impressive it was by experiencing the route in much of its ruggedness. And a great majority of that rugged route was already well preserved and protected under the previous national monument boundaries, all while still remaining plenty accessible by high clearance off-road capable vehicles. Leaving what's left of the trail and the surrounding area in their current and largely primitive state is the best way for people to connect with and experience the ruggedness and inhospitable nature of the terrain and landscape the pioneers had to endure and struggle through. It enables one to gain a deeper sense of appreciation and perspective for both the pioneers and for the comforts we enjoy in contemporary society.

If this big plan progresses and results in most of the trail on both sides of the Colorado becoming paved to accommodate all types of vehicles, this will largely erase away much of that rugged experience and ironically, erase away much of that pioneer legacy and heritage that can only be experienced and connected with by keeping the route more rugged. And then what will that do for at-risk youth? If at-risk youth in our state can really be helped by exposing them to our state's pioneer history, create a program that takes them to SLC's This is the Place Park. Though I'm not aware of any study showing this is statistically effective. But again, even if it were, then take them to the Visitor Center sites already in place in Escalante and Bluff. And then enable them to see and experience the rugged backcountry as closely as the pioneers experienced and saw it as possible...by NOT PAVING THE ROAD AND INSTALLING MODERN AMENITIES! I would wager that exposing at-risk youth to not only inspiring history, but also the natural beauty of primitive backcountry wilderness areas could be just as effective, if not more so.

 

[Reef&Ruins]

In case anyone is interested in going and attempting to have your voice heard (one way or the other):

BLM TO HOST PUBLIC SCOPING MEETINGS FOR NEW MONUMENT PLANS

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will host four public scoping meetings as part of the ongoing land use planning for Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM).

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Meetings:

Kanab: Wednesday, March 28th, 4:30-8 pm Kanab Middle School, 690 S Cowboy Way, Kanab, UT 84741

Escalante: Thursday, March 29th, 4:30-8 pm, Canyon Country Lodge,

760 East Highway 12, Escalante, UT 84726


For full information about the scoping process and how you can be involved click here.

Bears Ears National Monument Meetings:

Monday, March 26th, 4:30-8 pm, San Juan High School, 311 N 100 East, Blanding, UT 8451

Tuesday, March 27th, 4:30-8 pm, Bluff Community Center 3rd East and Mulberry Bluff Rd, Bluff, UT 84512

Because of the extraordinarily limited input being solicited from the public, Partners is encouraging all concerned about the future of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to attend these meetings in person if at all possible.

 

[JulieKT]

Thanks for posting that, @Reef&Ruins. I'm going to see if I can round up a bit of a posse to go to the Escalante meeting. Maybe the Blanding one, too.

 

[Reef&Ruins]

Thanks for posting that, @Reef&Ruins. I'm going to see if I can round up a bit of a posse to go to the Escalante meeting. Maybe the Blanding one, too.

I hope it works! Things seem to be a foregone conclusion with this crew of politicians.

 

[gnwatts]

Can't be in Blanding or Bluff, I will be in my canoe floating through Meander Canyon on the 24th-28th. I will be flying the Sea Shepard Jolly Roger flag (all boats need a flag). The time for action is at hand, and I will do my part.
I will take no prisoners.

 

[SKLund]

So now Chris Stewart is proposing a National Park in Grand Staircase. His main argument that being National Park status with it's supported infrastructure of roads, toilets, etc and the term Park instead of Monument will bring more tourist. He says it is a win/win because you get tourism and you can extract coal. I usually enjoy reading KSL news comments just so I can laugh at what some of the people in this state think, but with the articles around the monuments I have had to avoid them because I just get pissed off about the ignorance of most of the people commenting. I saw it mentioned above that a good number of people all of the sudden think Utah will be able to do whatever they want with the land.

Oh and also another topic that came up in Chris Stewart's interview was his genius way of funding the National Park Service with a "backpack" tax.

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46211347&n...es-national-park-in-grand-staircase-escalante

Edit - Sorry if my comment is a bit heated. I try my best to mostly ignore the political stuff, especially when commenting here but this has been getting me worked up. My wife is threatening to have the doctor put me on the high blood pressure meds if I can't figure out a way to calm down and drop it naturally.

Get out ASAP into those wild places and get that get bug eyed, spit webbed, dusty, slope shoulder, clothes stinkin tired. That'll do it.

 

[Reef&Ruins]

Some info I got today from Grand Staircase Escalante Partners:

Court News

At the end of February, Partners Executive Director Nicole Croft, with board members Scott Berry and Tom Hoyt, spent the week in Washington D.C. The purpose of the visit was to meet with our team of litigation lawyers at the firm of Covington and Burling, talk to key staff members in the offices of our supporters in the U.S. Senate, and consult with representatives of national conservation organizations. Partners deeply appreciates the work these lawyers are doing on behalf of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Currently, all parties are waiting for a ruling from Judge Chutkan on the pending motion to transfer the case to the federal district court in Utah. We hope for a decision on that question in the next couple of weeks.

There has not been movement of bills related to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in the Senate but we are watching closely for efforts from the Utah delegation to attach language (a "rider") about Grand Staircase on another bill.

Follow the latest in court news here.