Grand StaircaseEscalante National

Monument Livestock
Grazing
Western Watersheds Project

Western Watershed Projects Mission

The mission of Western Watersheds
Project is to protect and restore western
watersheds and wildlife through
education, public policy initiatives and
legal advocacy.
As one of the Wests most effective
environmental watchdog organizations,
Western Watersheds Project (WWP)
works to protect and restore over 250
million acres of public land in the west
which is home to a stunning array of
birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, other
wildlife and rare plants. In fact, WWP
has been successful in permanently

Unhealthy Range Environment

WWP works to ensure that land

management agencies such as
the Bureau of Land Management
and United States Forest Service
enforce important federal
environmental laws including:
Clean Water Act, National
Environmental Policy Act, and
Endangered Species Act.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National

Monument
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) was
established by President Bill Clinton on September 18, 1996.

Nothing in this proclamation

shall be deemed to affect
existing permits or leases for, or
levels of, livestock grazing on
Federal lands within the
monument; existing grazing uses
shall continue to be governed by
applicable laws and regulations
other than this proclamation".

Differences of Opinion
The BLM has a predicament when dealing
with the Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument. It is a dynamic environment with
environmental conditions can be extremely
harsh. The land is extremely prone to topsoil
erosion if proper procedures are not taken
when used for agriculture and grazing
purposes.
While the Grand Staircase is a monument, it
is far from a traditional. The more traditional
national parks are directed to preserve
nature in its natural state. While, the Grand
Staircase monument was set up as a
conservation monument.
There are mandates in place to protect the

There are many differences of opinion

between the Bureau of Land
Management, environmentalists, and
ranchers.

Bureau of Land Management

Directives
The Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA)

directs the BLM to create allotment management plans

for the livestock operations on public lands.

The BLM is then mandated to contact lessees and

permittees to create a management plan that meets

rangeland health standards.

If it is found the rangeland is being managed

ineffectively the monitoring officer needs to identify

what factors are contributing to the failure and
formulate a plan to rectify the situation.

BLM vs. Western Watershed Project

In 2006, the BLM found that 21 allotments, more than half of
the monument, fell below the Rangeland Health Standards.

In 2012, the Western Watershed Project filed suit against the

BLM to court for not taking proper procedures to correct the
health of the range land within the borders of the
monument.

The BLM argued that their objective was to put a plan in

place that steadily improves the land. Since the findings in
2006, the BLM claims there have been marked
improvements to range land health.

The End

References
Works Cited
Utah's Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office. WWP v. Pool. n.d. Web. 4
February 2016.
Western Watersheds Project. Utah BLM Resource Management Plans & Draft
Monument Management Plan for Grand Staircase Escalante National
Monument. n.d. Web. 4 February 2016.
Western Watersheds Project. WWP Acts: Grand Staircase Escalante National
Monument. n.d. Web. 3 February 2016.