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In 2017, the Trump administration shrunk Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, a controversial move that continues to be litigated in court. New documents show that communications officials in the Interior Department considered justifying the move by focusing on coal mining potential, citing massive coal reserves under the previously protected land and identifying coal companies as "key industry stakeholders." Although the Trump administration asserted in legal documents that they cannot lease any area within the original monument boundary for fossil fuel development, months of communications planning focused primarily on Grand Staircase-Escalante as "the only monument that has a coal component."
Coal mining in the area would be logistically difficult and would disrupt Utah's $12.3 billion outdoor recreation economy. John Leshy, former Interior Solicitor, says that coal reserves in the region are spread out and difficult to mine, compounded by the lack of transportation routes. Despite asserting that the previously-protected land could not be leased, the Interior Department finalized land use plans in February that could allow 800,000 previously-protected acres to be leased for oil, gas, and coal development. Proceeding with leasing and focusing on coal in the original messaging are further examples of the Trump administration prioritizing extractive industries over protecting our public lands.
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Congress’s passage of the Great American Outdoors Act is a reminder that we collectively have the power to write a new chapter in America’s conservation history, so that the promise of fresh air and the freedom of nature is guaranteed to every American, for all time.”
