Utah Rep. Chris Stewart proposes national park in Grand Staircase-Escalante
Dec 5, 2017, 10:36 AM
Deseret News file photo of Escalante Canyon
SALT LAKE CITY — Representative Chris Stewart introduced legislation Tuesday to create a 6th national park in Utah in a piece of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The proposed Escalante Canyons National Park comes on the heels of President Donald Trump dramatically down-sizing the 1.9 million-acre monument on Monday.
“We feel that’s a win-win,” he KSL’s Doug Wright Show. “People will come for a national park, but many of them won’t come for a monument.”
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Stewart, and Utah Representatives John Curtis and Rob Bishop also spoke about another piece of legislation to set up management of the lands in Utah, including co-management with Native American Indian Tribes, law enforcement, and minerals and artifacts protections.
They also talked about the misleading information being reported since President Trump’s actions on Monday: “The idea that this will give these lands over to oil and gas companies is a false narrative. This is not about development versus protection, it’s about how you best manage the land,” said Bishop.
