Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
| Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument | |||
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| Location: | Utah , United States | ||
| Next city: | Kanab | ||
| Surface: | 7,689 km² | ||
| Founding: | September 18, 1996 | ||
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The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is an American nature reserve in southern Utah , of the type of a national monument . It was proclaimed in September 1996 by President Bill Clinton and was the first national monument to be administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency under the umbrella of the US Department of the Interior .
On December 4, 2017, President Donald Trump ordered the protection area to be almost halved and the National Monument to be broken up into three only partially connected parts ( units ). As a reason, he stated that the original demarcation did not meet the requirements of the legal basis and would be much too large. The remnants of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are to be divided into the three protected areas Grand Staircase National Monument, Kaiparowits National Monument and Escalante Canyons National Monument. The right to downsize a National Monument by a presidential decree is controversial and will be clarified in court. A federal court in Washington DC issued an interim order in September 2018, which means that the area reduction will not take effect for the time being. The Bureau of Land Management is obliged to announce all interventions to the plaintiffs in good time before the start, so that legal protection options remain.
geography
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At 7689 km², the nature reserve is currently the largest of its kind in the heartland of the USA . It is located in southern Utah in one of the most remote areas of the USA, surrounded by the national parks Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef , the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell and the Dixie National Forest .
The monument consists of a rocky landscape and is geologically essentially divided into three parts. In the west is the area of the " Grand Staircase ", a layered landscape that forms the "Great Staircase" rising to the north. The Grand Staircase is cut through by the Paria River , which, together with its tributaries, cuts the landscape in many ways. Further to the east, the Grand Staircase is joined by the Kaiparowits Plateau , the driest and most inhospitable region of the monument. The boundary between these two parts of the monument is formed by part of the distinctive formation of the Cockscomb , a mountain fold that runs through Utah from north to south. In the east, the area of the Escalante Canyons joins the Kaiparowits Plateau.
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is accessed in the north by Utah State Route 12 . On this road, Boulder , Escalante and the towns of the Bryce Valley (including Tropic) are also the most important places for tourism with a small tourist infrastructure. On the southern edge of the monument, US Highway 89 is another access option. Except for the first section of the Burr Trail in the northeast of the monument, all other roads are unpaved. After rainfall, most unpaved roads are impassable for a while, even for 4x4 vehicles.
tourism
Visitor centers are located along Highway 89 in Kanab , near the turnoff to Houserock Valley Road about 40 miles east of Kanab and in Big Water . There are three visitor centers on State Route 12: in the Red Canyon area, and in Cannonville and Escalante.
The monument's only marked hiking trail starts on State Route 12 between Boulder and Escalante. It leads through Calf Creek Canyon and to Lower Calf Creek Falls . Most of the other hiking trails are not developed and some of them lead through slot canyons .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Presidential Proclamation Modifying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument . December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
- ↑ Josh Siegel: Trump announces he will shrink Bears Ears, Grand Staircase monuments in Utah . Retrieved December 4, 2017.
- ^ New York Times: Patagonia, REI and Other Outdoor Retailers Protest Trump's Decision to Shrink Utah Monuments , December 5, 2017
- ↑ The Atlantic: A Setback for Trump's plan to slash Public Lands , October 1, 2018