National Conservation Lands in the context of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument

👉 National Conservation Lands in the context of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument

The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is a United States national monument protecting the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante (Escalante River) in southern Utah. It was established in 1996 by President Bill Clinton under the authority of the Antiquities Act with 1.7 million acres of land, later expanded to 1,880,461 acres (7,610 km). In 2017, the monument's size was reduced by half in a succeeding presidential proclamation, and it was restored in 2021. The land is among the most remote in the country; it was the last to be mapped in the contiguous United States.

The monument is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as part of the National Conservation Lands system. Grand Staircase–Escalante is the first and largest national monument managed by the BLM. Visitor centers are located in Cannonville, Big Water, Escalante, and Kanab.

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National Conservation Lands in the context of Wilderness study area

A wilderness study area (WSA) contains undeveloped United States federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, and managed to preserve its natural conditions. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages wilderness study areas under the National Landscape Conservation System to protect their value as wilderness until Congress decides whether to designate them as wilderness, including them in the National Wilderness Preservation System.

On BLM lands, a WSA is a roadless area that has been inventoried (but not designated by Congress) and found to have wilderness characteristics as described in Section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and Section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Wilderness Study Area characteristics are:

View the full Wikipedia page for Wilderness study area

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