Grand Staircase Escalante Partners

06/14/2026

Introducing Zach Earl, our new Native Plant Program Manager. Zach (saltair_house) grew up in Utah and fell in love with nature as a kid. After receiving a Linguistics and International Studies degree from the University of Utah, he worked in education as a teacher and academic advisor.

Over time, he became more deeply interested in native plants, growing 100s of species from seed, joining the Utah Native Plant Society Board of Directors, and planning large-scale native plant-focused events, such as PlantFest. These led him to GSEP where Zach brings a passion for building community through connecting with native plants. Outside of work, you might find him gardening, camping with his dogs, or botanizing the deserts and mountains of Utah.

06/11/2026

💦Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument protects the Escalante and Paria River watersheds. Both are vital tributaries of the Colorado River, which supports 40 million people! If you live in another part of the U.S. and eat vegetables in winter you rely on this water too.

Colorado River flows are extremely low this year from drought and high heat. Reservoirs like Lake Powell are rapidly shrinking. Every drop of water in the system is critical.

The current Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument management plan ensures robust protections from mining, grazing, and off road vehicles for these lifelines. Please call or write your representatives and urge them to vote against Utah delegates use of the Congressional Review Act to undo this critical piece of management that protects our water.💦

Write your reps: https://monumentsforall.org/grandstaircase/

Photos 1 & 2 taken with support from ✈️

06/08/2026

Today is the 120th Anniversary of the Antiquities Act. This law gives Presidents the authority to protect public lands (and oceans), along with historic and cultural sites. Since President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law in 1906, it has been used by 18 presidents from both parties to designate 168 monuments. This includes the designation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.

Photo taken with support from

06/07/2026

This will be a great event for all who can make it to Kanab!

Wednesday-June 10 at 6pm 🪵
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Utah Native Plant Society Group

06/06/2026

The Paria townsite area on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is home to some incredible geology that reflects a past when water covered the area then receded or evaporated in cycles over thousands of years. These cycles of wetness and dryness laid the foundation for the layers of color we see today in sedimentary formations throughout the Monument.

06/03/2026

Meet Puq, our newest PAWtner!🐾

Your Monument companion can be a PAWtner too, for a $25 annual donation. In return, you will receive a special PAWtners sticker, your pet's photo in our gallery, and a digital toolkit that reviews desert safety and etiquette.

Becoming a PAWtner means your four-legged friend joins a community of animal lovers who care about Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Our program informs visitors about hazards specific to the region, explains pet etiquette expectations, and recognizes the pet that has made your trips to the Monument so special.

Your donation helps support restoration, education, and stewardship efforts to ensure these lands and the adventures they inspire last for generations to come.

Welcome to our new PAWtners, and say hello if you run into them on the Monument. https://gsenm.org/pawtners/

06/01/2026

Please welcome our new Restoration Technician, Gabe Brown! In 2024, Gabe was the Overall Volunteer of the Year for the fabulous nonprofit, Sageland Collaborative. Gabe helped one of Utah's special toads, the boreal toad, and volunteered as a part of the Wildlife Watch Camera Response Team.

We are so excited to work with Gabe on our Russian olive removal and low tech process based restoration work in the Escalante River Watershed. Gabe joins Katie and Alex in the Restoration team as a seasonal technician.

05/30/2026

Trail Ambassadors Wanted!

Trail Ambassador volunteers are representatives of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). A Trail Ambassador is a volunteer who provides information to trail users, emphasizing safety and use etiquette as well as reporting current conditions and alerting the BLM staff to any attention needed. The GSEP Trail Ambassador Program stands apart by taking a holistic approach to deepen the visitors connection through the "Honor the Land" ethic. GSEP Trail Ambassadors will educate visitors using Native Connections, Resilient Ecosystems, Scientific Inquiry, and Cultural Awareness and Reflection, as well as Leave No Trace and Visit With Respect Principles to minimize harmful impacts on the Monument.

More information for interested volunteers can be found here and linked in our Instagram bio: https://sites.google.com/gsenm.org/stewardship-project-site-draft/trail-ambassadors/become-a-trail-ambassador?authuser=0

05/28/2026

As scientists, researchers, and educators from across the United States, we write to reaffirm our deep concern regarding threats to the scientific integrity, management, and long-term protection of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Specifically, the Utah delegation’s reckless gambit to toss out the monument’s management plan using the Congressional Review Act risks not only the scientific objects of interest within the boundaries, but also the future of research and scientific discovery in this unique landscape.”

Join 150 scientists and take action to protect the monument today: https://monumentsforall.org/grandstaircase/

05/25/2026

Op-Ed: Autumn Gillard, Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Council member explains how attacks to the national monument is a strike on Indigenous culture and history.

“As a Southern Paiute woman, I have a strong connection to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, as it is referred to today.

Part of what makes the newest strike on Grand Staircase so painful is that it would undo protections for our ancestral places. This time, instead of going after Grand Staircase’s boundaries, members of the Utah congressional delegation are taking aim at the monument’s resource management plan.

Many people think of Grand Staircase as a science monument. They think of the amazing geology and paleontology, the many dinosaur fossils that have made it famous. But for us, as Native people, Grand Staircase is so much more than a research laboratory or a library of our planet’s past.”

Read: https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2026/02/27/voices-strike-grand-staircase-is/

Act: https://tinyurl.com/36jjdz75