Designated in 1996, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument spans about 1.9 million acres in southern Utah and protects an extraordinary cultural landscape of great archaeological, ecological, geological, paleontological, and scientific significance.
The Monument holds thousands of cultural places, including ancestral dwellings, petroglyphs, pilgrimage trails, sacred sites, and springs, as well as important habitat for bears, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, birds, bees, and native plants.
Nearly 9-in-10 Utah voters (89%) say it is very important for Native
American Tribes to have a strong role in managing their ancestral lands.
The Monument is home to cultural places of profound importance to Tribes, including sacred petroglyph panels, ancestral dwellings, and pilgrimage trails. For some Tribes, this is our Holy Land. Our people have interacted with the landscape since time immemorial and today we still come to Grand Staircase to gather food and medicine, hunt, collect firewood, and to visit springs and sacred places.
The Monument protects over 2,500 river miles, including important water sources that
support life for plants, animals, and people.
More than 200 million years of Earth’s history are contained in the layers of rock found in
the monument and the monument is important to scientists studying our planet’s past.
At least 30 species of dinosaurs, including 15 totally new species, have been found in the
monument.
The Monument is home to mountain lions, bighorn sheep, bears, over 200 species of birds, including endangered California condors, and over 600 species of bees, as well as over 1,000 species of plants. In fact, 26% of all the plant species in the state of Utah are found in the monument.
About 1 million people visit the Monument every year and Monument tourism is a major economic engine for the region. Between 2001 and 2022, jobs increased 51%, non-labor income increased 99%, and per capita income grew 41% in communities around the Monument.
74% of Utah voters support keeping Grand Staircase protected as a National Monument. That’s nearly 3 out of every 4 Utah voters. This support is strong across party lines, including nearly 2 out of 3 Republicans (65%), 80% of Independents, and 96% of Democrats.
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