Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument turns 25 on Saturday

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Photo: Townlift

ESCALANTE, Utah — The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah is celebrating its 25th anniversary on Saturday, September 18.

On the same date in 1996, President Bill Clinton used his presidential powers from the 1906 Antiquities Act to create the federal monument.

The Antiquities Act has been used by several presidents to protect notable public lands:

• Presidents Taft and Wilson first protected what is now Zion National Park
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt first protected part of Grand Teton National Park
• President Theodore Roosevelt preserved the Grand Canyon

Clinton announced the creation of Grand Staircase-Escalante at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to honor President Roosevelt’s use of the Antiquities Act.

Grand Staircase-Escalante spans over one million acres and is a diverse geologic treasure with slot canyons, petroglyphs, natural bridges, and arches all over.

Due to its remote location and rugged landscape, it was one of the last places in the continental United States to be mapped.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is hosting a two-hour Zoom broadcast on Saturday at 10 am to celebrate the anniversary. Guest researchers will be discussing their work on the monument in the fields of paleontology, geology, entomology, and botany. You can register for the event here.