Escalante National Monument was proposed by Secretary of the Interior
Harold Ickes in the 1930s as a unit of the U.S.
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
in the canyonlands of south central Utah. Centering on the canyons of the
Escalante River
The Escalante River is a tributary of the Colorado River. It is formed by the confluence of Upper Valley and Birch Creeks near the town of Escalante in south-central Utah, and from there flows southeast for approximately before joining Lake Po ...
, the proposed monument encompassed portions of present-day
Canyonlands
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and thei ...
and
Capitol Reef national parks,
Natural Bridges
A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...
and
Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon i ...
.
The proposed national monument was to encompass about . The Second World War interrupted Ickes initiative, which had encountered resistance from Utah politicians.
The scheme was partially fulfilled with the establishment of Capitol Reef National Monument under the
Antiquities Act
The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential procla ...
in 1937 and Canyonlands National Park by act of Congress in 1964,
[ and expanded with the proclamation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by the Clinton Administration in 1996. Later proposals by the ]National Parks Conservation Association
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Pa ...
in the 1980s,[ former Utah Congressman ]Wayne Owens
Douglas Wayne Owens (May 2, 1937 – December 18, 2002) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Utah's 2nd congressional district from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1987 to 1993.
Career
Born and ra ...
in the 1990s,[ and the Greater Canyonlands Coalition in the 2010s revived the idea, encountering renewed opposition from the Utah congressional delegation.]Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
proclaimed the 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument
Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects of public land su ...
to protect Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
public lands and part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest south and east of Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their r ...
. This area was part of the 1936 proposed national monument.
References
External links
Greater Canyonlands Coalition
website advocating expansion of parklands in the Canyonlands region
"Federal Park Policy in Utah: The Escalante National Monument Controversy of 1935-1940"
By Elmo R. Richardson. Utah Historical Quarterly (Volume 33, Number 2, April 1965)
{{coord missing, Utah
Proposed national monuments of the United States