Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 57335-57347 [2021-22673]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 197 (Friday, October 15, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 57335-57347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22673]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 197 / Friday, October 15, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 57335]]


                Proclamation 10286 of October 8, 2021

                
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                President Clinton's designation of the Grand Staircase-
                Escalante National Monument in Proclamation 6920 of 
                September 18, 1996, was a watershed moment for 
                conservation in the United States. Proclamation 6920 
                represents the first time a President designated a 
                national monument under the Antiquities Act to be 
                managed by the Bureau of Land Management, signaling the 
                dawn of the modern era of Antiquities Act protection 
                and a reawakening of conservation efforts on public 
                lands in the West.

                Proclamation 6920 describes the rich mosaic of objects 
                of historic and scientific interest across Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante. Proclamation 6920 details the 
                monument's varied geology, from the cliffs of the Grand 
                Staircase in the west, to the fossil-rich formations in 
                the Kaiparowits Plateau that demonstrate billions of 
                years of geology infused with world-class 
                paleontological sites, to the badlands of the Burning 
                Hills in the center, to the intricate and complex 
                system of canyons in the Escalante region in the east. 
                The proclamation goes on to describe the area's rich 
                human history, spanning from the indigenous people and 
                cultures who made this area home to Anglo-American 
                explorers and early Latter-day Saint pioneers. The 
                proclamation further identifies outstanding biological 
                resources, describing the monument as ``in the heart of 
                perhaps the richest floristic region in the 
                Intermountain West,'' spanning five life zones and 
                supporting diverse, rare, and endemic populations of 
                plants and a diversity of animals, as well as unusual 
                and diverse soils that support communities of mosses, 
                lichens, and cyanobacteria. In addition, the 
                proclamation describes the vast opportunities for 
                additional scientific research and discovery within the 
                monument. Grand Staircase-Escalante has become the 
                focus of a multi-disciplinary study of its large 
                landscape for the benefit of current and future 
                generations.

                After the monument was established, the Congress 
                adjusted the boundaries or ratified the acquisition of 
                additional lands within the monument on three separate 
                occasions, in some cases adding lands, in other cases 
                subtracting lands. When the Congress had completed its 
                fine-tuning, it had increased the monument's 
                reservation by more than 180,000 acres, bringing the 
                total Federal lands within the monument boundaries to 
                approximately 1.87 million acres.

                Remarkably, given its size, in the 25 years since its 
                designation, Grand Staircase-Escalante has fulfilled 
                the vision of an outdoor laboratory with great 
                potential for diverse and significant scientific 
                discoveries. During this period, hundreds of scientific 
                studies and projects have been conducted within the 
                monument, including investigating how the monument's 
                geology provides insight into the hydrology of Mars; 
                discovering many previously unknown species of 
                dinosaurs, some of which have become household names; 
                unearthing some of the oldest marsupial fossils ever 
                identified; conducting extensive inventories of 
                invertebrates, including the identification of more 
                than 600 species of bees, some of which likely exist 
                nowhere else on Earth; performing hydrologic research 
                in the Escalante River and Deer Creek; studying and 
                restoring habitat for amphibians, mammals, and bird 
                species, including the reintroduction of bighorn sheep 
                and pronghorn

[[Page 57336]]

                to their native range; completing rangeland science 
                assessments, including a complete Level III soils 
                survey; carrying out widespread archaeological surveys 
                that have documented important sites and rock writings; 
                and implementing social science projects related to 
                visitor experiences and impacts. New scientific 
                discoveries are likely just around the corner; for 
                example, scientists have collected thousands of 
                specimens of invertebrates from the monument that await 
                further study and are expected to yield new species 
                that are endemic to the monument. Scientists have 
                utilized every corner of the monument in their efforts 
                to better understand our environment, our history, our 
                planet's past, and our place in the universe.

                On December 4, 2017, President Donald Trump issued 
                Proclamation 9682 to reduce the monument by over 
                860,000 acres. Proclamation 9682 removes protection 
                from objects of historic and scientific interest across 
                the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape, including some 
                resources Proclamation 6920 specifically identifies for 
                protection. Multiple parties challenged Proclamation 
                9682 in Federal court, asserting that it exceeded the 
                President's authority under the Antiquities Act.

                Restoring the Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
                Monument to its size and boundaries as they existed 
                prior to December 4, 2017, will ensure that this 
                exceptional and inimitable landscape filled with an 
                unparalleled diversity of resources will be properly 
                protected and will continue to provide the living 
                laboratory that has produced so many dramatic 
                discoveries in the first quarter century of its 
                existence. Given the unique nature of the objects 
                identified across the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
                landscape, the threat of damage and destruction to 
                those objects, and the current inadequate protection 
                they are afforded, a reservation of this size is the 
                smallest area compatible with the proper care and 
                management of the objects of historic and scientific 
                interest named in this proclamation and Proclamation 
                6920.

                The entire Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape--
                stretching from Skutumpah Terrace and the escarpments 
                of the Grand Staircase in the west, Nipple Bench, Smoky 
                Mountain, the Burning Hills, Grand Bench, the East and 
                West Clark Benches, and Buckskin Mountain in the south, 
                the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail that runs through the 
                Escalante Desert, Upper Escalante Canyons, and Circle 
                Cliffs in the northeast, and Alvey Wash and the Blues 
                in the north--is an object of historic and scientific 
                interest requiring protection under the Antiquities 
                Act. There are innumerable objects of historic or 
                scientific interest within this extraordinary 
                landscape. Some of the objects are also sacred to 
                Tribal Nations, rare, fragile, or vulnerable to 
                vandalism and theft, or are dangerous to visit and, 
                therefore, revealing their specific names and locations 
                could pose a danger to the objects or the public.

                High, rugged, and remote, the vast and austere Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante landscape is characterized by bold 
                plateaus and multihued cliffs that run for distances 
                that defy human perspective. It is also home to world-
                famous slot canyons that are so deep and narrow that 
                sunlight almost never penetrates their ultimate depths, 
                and pools of numbingly cold water remain throughout the 
                hottest months. Despite being the last place in the 
                contiguous United States to be mapped and remaining a 
                remote and primitive landscape to this day, the Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante area has a long and dignified human 
                history. The landscape teems with evidence of the 
                efforts expended by both indigenous people and early 
                Anglo pioneers to carve existences into an arid and 
                unforgiving region. The Grand Staircase-Escalante 
                region retains the frontier character of the American 
                West, providing visitors with an opportunity to 
                experience a remote landscape rich with opportunities 
                for adventure and self-discovery. It is unique and rare 
                in today's world to encounter a place where one can 
                wander and ponder undisturbed, and explore and discover 
                at one's own pace. It also serves as an outdoor 
                laboratory on the frontier of scientific research that 
                continues to regularly reveal important insights into 
                our planet and our past.

[[Page 57337]]

                The Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape is a geologic 
                treasure of clearly exposed stratigraphy and 
                structures. The sedimentary rock layers are relatively 
                undeformed and unobscured by vegetation, offering a 
                clear view to understanding the Earth's geological 
                development. Owing in large part to the exposure of so 
                many formations, the landscape is one of the world's 
                great paleontological laboratories. From remarkable 
                specimens of petrified wood, to the most continuous 
                record of Late Cretaceous life, to the first evidence 
                that tyrannosaurs hunted in packs, to marble-like iron 
                oxide concretions found in Navajo Sandstone that 
                provide insight into Martian geology, the ongoing 
                discoveries on the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape 
                continue to make invaluable contributions to our 
                understanding of the planet's past. Despite the 
                abundance of paleontological discoveries that have 
                occurred on the landscape, and the wealth of 
                information they have provided about the entire 
                Mesozoic Era, it is likely that we have thus far 
                uncovered only a fragment of Grand Staircase-
                Escalante's paleontological story.

                Rich in human history, the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
                landscape abounds in evidence of habitation by the 
                Ancestral Pueblo and Fremont cultures. Tribal Nations, 
                including the Hopi Tribe, the Kaibab Band of Paiute 
                Indians, the Navajo Nation, the Paiute Indian Tribe of 
                Utah, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe of Arizona, 
                the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of San Felipe, the 
                Pueblo of Tesuque, and the Pueblo of Zuni, have 
                ancestral, cultural, or historical ties to this area 
                and continue to use the area to this day. The Southern 
                Paiute people in particular hold these lands sacred as 
                they make up a portion of their traditional homeland. 
                The landscape has also played an important role in 
                European settlement of the American West. In 1776, the 
                Dominguez-Escalante expedition may have passed through 
                the region, and subsequent travelers on the Armijo 
                Route of the Old Spanish Trail journeyed up the Paria 
                River, through Cottonwood Canyon and the Cockscomb, and 
                to the west through Kimball Valley and along parts of 
                Telegraph Flat below the Vermillion Cliffs. The John 
                Wesley Powell expedition created some of the earliest 
                maps of the area in 1872, and later that decade, 
                Latter-day Saint pioneers literally etched portions of 
                the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail across the desert in their 
                efforts to settle southern Utah.

                The landscape is also an outstanding biological 
                resource. As a result of the blending of warm and cold 
                desert flora and the high number of endemic species, 
                the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape, which contains 
                50 percent of Utah's rare flora and 125 species of 
                plants that occur only in Utah or on the Colorado 
                Plateau, is one of the most floristically rich regions 
                in the Intermountain West. An abundance of unique, 
                isolated plant communities can be found, such as 
                hanging gardens, tinajas, and rock crevice, canyon 
                bottom, and dunal pocket communities. Large expanses of 
                various exposed geologic strata, each with unique 
                physical and chemical characteristics, have resulted in 
                a spectacular array of unusual and diverse soils, 
                including desert pavement and biological soil crusts, 
                which support a wide range of vegetative communities, 
                such as relict plant communities that have existed 
                since the Pleistocene, and a multitude of endemic 
                plants and pollinators. For example, lands within the 
                Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape contain an 
                astounding biodiversity of bees due, in large part, to 
                the substantial elevational gradient, diversity of 
                habitats, and abundance of flowering plants. The area 
                is home to hundreds of bee species, including dozens of 
                species that are believed to be unique to this 
                landscape. Many of the species found in the Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante region are highly localized, with 
                small populations occurring in only a few locations or 
                near certain flowering plants. Wildlife also 
                flourishes; from mountain lion, bear, pronghorn, and 
                desert bighorn sheep, to hundreds of species of birds, 
                the landscape's location and the great variation in its 
                elevation and topography have created a unique 
                environment where suitable habitat exists for species 
                associated with multiple eco-regions.

                The Grand Staircase-Escalante's large, isolated, and, 
                at times, impenetrable landscape is one of the most 
                naturally dark outdoor spaces left in America, 
                providing views of the cosmos that are nearly unrivaled 
                in the contiguous

[[Page 57338]]

                United States, and an opportunity for visitors to 
                encounter a landscape at night, undisturbed by electric 
                lights, in the same way people have experienced the 
                West for most of America's history. According to recent 
                research, over 90 percent of the landscape, or nearly 
                1.7 million acres, contains pristine night skies, 
                meaning that observers would see no indication of 
                artificial skyglow anywhere in the night sky. Only 
                natural sources of light are visible to the human eye, 
                such as starlight, airglow, aurora, and zodiacal light. 
                Comparatively, less than one third of the land area of 
                the United States regularly experiences this degree of 
                natural darkness, and most of that land is located in 
                Alaska. The Grand Staircase-Escalante area also 
                provides a remarkable natural soundscape with 
                infrequent human-caused sounds. From popular 
                recreational destinations to remote, isolated 
                locations, acoustic baseline research has found that 
                some of the quietest conditions found in protected 
                areas across the United States can be found in the 
                Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape.

                The Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape is akin to a 
                nesting doll of objects of historic and scientific 
                interest. The landscape as a whole is an important 
                object that provides context for each of its 
                constituent parts. Within the whole are distinct and 
                unique areas, which are themselves objects qualifying 
                for protection. In turn, each of those areas contain 
                innumerable individual fossils, archaeological sites, 
                rare species, and other objects that are independently 
                of historic or scientific interest and require 
                protection under the Antiquities Act.

                Located in the northeast corner of the Grand Staircase-
                Escalante landscape adjacent to Capitol Reef National 
                Park is the Circle Cliffs area, which is dominated by a 
                northwest-trending sandstone anticline and dramatic red 
                sandstone cliffs. The area also encompasses several sky 
                islands, including Studhorse Peaks, Colt Mesa, and Deer 
                Point, the latter of which provides exquisite views of 
                Waterpocket Fold--a stunning fold in the area's 
                geologic layers that is the central feature of Capitol 
                Reef National Park. The ecologically intact region 
                provides important winter habitat for elk and contains 
                a significant number of cultural sites used by 
                Ancestral Pueblos and the Fremont. Specimens of 
                petrified wood can be found across the Circle Cliffs 
                area, including in the well-known Wolverine Petrified 
                Wood Area, which includes some largely intact logs 
                nearly 100 feet in length. Additionally, the Circle 
                Cliffs landscape is rich in paleontological resources. 
                The area, with geology dating back to the Triassic and 
                Permian Periods, contains at least 45 known 
                paleontological sites, including one in which a nearly 
                complete articulated skeleton of Poposaurus--a rare 
                bipedal crocodilian from the Late Triassic Period--was 
                found. The Circle Cliffs landscape also contains 
                portions of the Burr Trail, a route originally blazed 
                by stockman John Atlantic Burr that is now a Utah 
                Scenic Backway offering remarkable views of the 
                Waterpocket Fold, the Henry Mountains, and the Boulder 
                Mountain area of the Aquarius Plateau.

                West of the Circle Cliffs and bisected by the Escalante 
                River is the awe-inspiring Upper Escalante Canyons 
                landscape. In this region, vivid geological features 
                are laid bare in narrow, serpentine canyons, where 
                erosion has exposed rolling expanses of petrified dunes 
                and rock striations in shades of red, salmon, white, 
                buff, and rust. The area's resources are almost too 
                numerous to name. There are natural bridges and arches, 
                such as Maverick Natural Bridge and Phipps Arch, the 
                130-foot tall Escalante Natural Bridge, and Bowington 
                Arch; a large and unusual circular erosional sandstone 
                formation that has sparked the public's imagination, as 
                evidenced by its many names, including the Cosmic 
                Navel; and several world-class slot canyons that draw 
                adventurers from the world over, such as the Dry Fork 
                of Coyote Gulch, Brimstone Canyon, Peek-a-boo Canyon, 
                Spooky Gulch, Zebra and Tunnel Slot Canyons, and the 
                Egypt Slots. The Escalante Canyons landscape also 
                contains a high density of Fremont prehistoric sites, 
                such as pithouses, villages, and storage cysts. The 
                area's many canyons contain a world-class density and 
                variety of Fremont, Ancestral Pueblo, and Southern 
                Paiute rock writings, including a panel that is 
                particularly meaningful to Tribal Nations

[[Page 57339]]

                with ancestral and historical ties to the area and 
                another panel containing polychromatic depictions of 
                long, linear figures that may date back to the Archaic 
                period. The Escalante Canyons landscape also contains 
                many inscriptions left by early settlers of European 
                descent and significant historic sites telling tales of 
                the region's more recent past, such as the Boulder Mail 
                Trail, which was used to ferry mail between the small 
                desert outpost towns of Escalante and Boulder beginning 
                in 1902. The Boulder Mail Trail intersects incredibly 
                scenic canyons that empty into the Escalante River. The 
                narrow sandstone walls of Sand Creek shade a perennial 
                stream that meanders through cool pools and supports 
                riparian habitat and hanging gardens. Perennial flows 
                are also found in Death Hollow, a stunning canyon 
                chiseled into yellow and white Navajo Sandstone that is 
                narrow and extraordinarily deep in its upper reaches 
                before transitioning near the Boulder Mail Trail into a 
                wider canyon dotted with ponderosa pine and riparian 
                habitat. As a result of the abundance of water in 
                tributaries of the Escalante River, as well as various 
                seeps and springs, the Escalante Canyons area is dotted 
                with hanging gardens, tinajas, and riparian vegetation 
                that provide oases of sorts in an otherwise arid 
                environment. The area is distilled to its essence in 
                Calf Creek Canyon, the home of towering Navajo 
                Sandstone cliffs, lush vegetation, cultural sites, and 
                a perennial stream with two waterfalls: a slender 88-
                foot plunge in the upper part of the canyon, and a 126-
                foot cascade farther downstream that is one of the more 
                elegant waterfalls in the entire Southwest. The upper 
                part of the watershed is strewn with black basalt 
                boulders and expanses of iron concretion sheets.

                To the southeast of the Upper Escalante Canyons, 
                adjacent to Capitol Reef National Park and Glen Canyon 
                National Recreation Area, is a region with a rich 
                pioneer history that functions as a gateway to the many 
                slot canyons and arches near the Escalante River. 
                Traversing the area is the historically significant 
                Hole-in-the-Rock Road, which generally follows the 
                route that Latter-day Saint pioneers constructed 
                between 1879 and 1880 when crossing southern Utah to 
                establish a wagon route between Escalante and southeast 
                Utah settlements. Today, the road provides access to 
                many of the landscape's resources, including Devil's 
                Garden, an area with hoodoos, colorful rock formations, 
                and unique sandstone arches like the impressively 
                delicate Metate Arch; the small but attractive Little 
                Jumbo Arch; the widely photographed Sunrise and Sunset 
                arches; and Chimney Rock, a remote, lonely sandstone 
                pillar that seems to defy its otherwise flat 
                surroundings. This area is also the location of Dance 
                Hall Rock, an important landmark where Latter-day Saint 
                pioneers camped and held meetings and dances when 
                constructing the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail. These 
                uncompromising desert lands are home to high 
                concentrations of rare species of bees with fascinating 
                adaptations to their local environment, such as 
                Diadasia bees, which build nests in the hard desert 
                soil that feature a clay chimney on top, an 
                architectural design that has, thus far, stumped 
                scientists trying to understand its utility. Consisting 
                of rock primarily from the Jurassic Period, there are 
                many paleontological sites in this region. Among those, 
                the sprawling Twentymile Wash Dinosaur Megatrackway 
                consists of more than several hundred individual 
                dinosaur tracks and what some scientists believe is a 
                rare, mid-line tail-drag impression left in the 
                Escalante Member of the Entrada Formation by a 
                sauropod, or long-necked dinosaur.

                At the center of the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
                landscape is the Kaiparowits Plateau, containing 
                roughly 1,600 square miles of sedimentary rock that 
                towers over the surrounding area. The plateau is 
                bordered on the east side by the Straight Cliffs, which 
                stretch from near the beginning of the Escalante River 
                to Fiftymile Mountain, and on the west by the East 
                Kaibab Monocline, better known as the Cockscomb. The 
                area is made up of steep-walled canyons, escarpments, 
                towers, arches, and a series of benches that ascend 
                from the southern border of the Grand Staircase-
                Escalante landscape. The Cockscomb is formed by 
                parallel ridges with an intersecting steep v-shaped 
                trough, and flatirons, small monoliths, and other 
                colorful formations along the western ridge. The 
                plateau has evidence of thousands of years

[[Page 57340]]

                of human habitation with sites attributed to many 
                prehistoric cultures in southern Utah. Bighorn sheep 
                and pronghorn have historically roamed the Kaiparowits 
                Plateau--as evidenced by the area's petroglyph and 
                pictograph panels--and reproducing populations have 
                been reintroduced in recent years. The area is also 
                home to a small population of chuckwalla and a 
                population of desert night lizard, a species rarely 
                seen in Utah.

                The stratified geology of the Kaiparowits Plateau 
                exposes fossils and other indicia of hundreds of 
                millions of years of our planet's history, the only 
                evidence in our hemisphere of mammals from the 
                Cenomanian through Santonian ages and one of the 
                world's best and most continuous records of Late 
                Cretaceous terrestrial life. To date, many thousands of 
                fossil sites have been documented on the plateau, 
                including evidence of at least 15 previously unknown 
                species of dinosaur. Fossils are preserved in stunning 
                detail rarely seen in North America, including traces 
                of soft tissue and the impressions of skin, beaks, and 
                claws. The plateau contains a diverse assemblage of 
                Campanian fauna, including a remarkable record of 
                vertebrate species that include many new taxa and new 
                temporal and geographic occurrences, thereby making the 
                Kaiparowits Plateau an important scientific resource 
                providing insight to the Late Cretaceous biosphere.

                The Kaiparowits Plateau comprises multiple geological 
                formations. The Kaiparowits and Wahweap Formations 
                contain diverse and unique fossil evidence of ancient 
                fauna and flora, including pterosaurs, frogs, 
                salamanders, and snakes, that are fundamentally 
                different from discoveries in other parts of North 
                America. The Kaiparowits Formation has produced many 
                ancient vertebrate taxa that are entirely new to 
                science, including a vast array of horned dinosaurs, 
                such as the Nasutoceratops, Kosmoceratops, and 
                Utahceratops, a new species of Gryposaurus possessing a 
                more robust skull, a new raptor, and the tyrannosaurid 
                Teratophoneus. It has also produced evidence of a 
                potentially new crested duck-billed dinosaur and 
                incredibly diverse vegetative communities with 
                previously undescribed fossil trees and aquatic plants. 
                In 2018, researchers recovered the Akainacephalus, 
                which is the most complete ankylosaur ever recovered in 
                the southwestern United States. Exploration of the 
                Wahweap Formation, while still in early stages, has led 
                to striking Mesozoic Era discoveries, including the 
                horned dinosaur Diabloceratops and the tyrannosaurid 
                Lythronax. Similarly, the Dakota Formation contains 
                some of the earliest evidence of mammals in the fossil 
                record, and the Tropic Shale Formation includes 
                important marine reptiles such as five species of 
                plesiosaur and North America's oldest mosasaur. There 
                are at least two mass mortality sites on the 
                Kaiparowits Plateau, including the Rainbows and 
                Unicorns site, which preserves the relatively complete 
                remains of at least four tyrannosaurs ranging in age 
                from juvenile to large adult, indicating that 
                tyrannosaurs may have been social hunters and engaged 
                in extended parental care, and Uncle Charley's Bonebed, 
                which produced the fossilized remains of extinct 
                tortoises, many of which had soft tissue preservation 
                of skin and claws, and one of which even had a clutch 
                of eggs preserved in its carapace. In addition, 
                petrified wood from the Late Jurassic and Late 
                Cretaceous Periods is found in the Morrison, Wahweap, 
                and Kaiparowits Formations. The plateau also has an 
                expansive exposure of a unique deposit of fossil oyster 
                beds up to six feet thick from the Cretaceous Period, 
                along with other marine mollusk shells.

                The eastern portion of the Kaiparowits Plateau is 
                dominated by Fiftymile Mountain and Fiftymile Bench. 
                The upper elevations of these bench lands contain rich 
                and varied ecosystems that include pinyon and juniper 
                woodlands, ponderosa pine forests, and aspen groves. 
                The area is dissected by a labyrinth of picturesque 
                canyons, many of which contain important riparian 
                ecosystems. The Fiftymile Mountain area has a high 
                density of archaeological sites, including masonry 
                structures, which have architectural styles suggesting 
                that the Virgin Branch and Kayenta Branch of Ancestral 
                Pueblos and the Fremont culture converged in the area. 
                There are also sites considered sacred to several 
                Tribal Nations with historical or ancestral ties to the 
                Grand Staircase-Escalante region. This area further 
                contains evidence of

[[Page 57341]]

                early pioneers who tried to scratch out a life on the 
                sparse landscape, including historic cabins, fences, 
                and stock trails. The sagebrush steppe ecosystem of 
                Fiftymile Bench provides views of Window Wind Arch and 
                striking vistas of the skyscraper-like escarpment that 
                is the eastern face of the Straight Cliffs. The 
                Straight Cliffs Formation, which is particularly 
                exposed in this part of southern Utah, is rich with 
                fossil resources containing evidence of primitive 
                mammals, as well as straight cone cephalopods, 
                ammonites, gastropods, pelecypods, and Cretaceous shark 
                teeth. The Straight Cliffs also contain many clusters 
                of balanced or pedestal rocks, known as hoodoos. Sooner 
                Rocks, at the base of the Straight Cliffs, provides 
                outstanding examples of the geologic feature known as 
                ``mega-potholes'' that are more often found in some of 
                the sandstone formations in and around Glen Canyon.

                Grand Bench lies on the southeastern border of the 
                Kaiparowits Plateau between the Burning Hills to the 
                west and Fiftymile Mountain to the east. The sparse 
                road network in Grand Bench makes it one of the most 
                remote locations in the Grand Staircase-Escalante, with 
                largely unspoiled and unimpeded views of the night sky. 
                The Grand Bench area is also home to the mostly 
                freestanding Woolsey Arch, as well as many recorded 
                paleontology sites found in its Cretaceous and Jurassic 
                Period rocks, including petrified wood and important 
                fossils.

                The Smoky Mountain area just west of Grand Bench on the 
                Kaiparowits Plateau provides a striking scene. The 
                steep and rugged hilltops of the Burning Hills have 
                been scorched red by naturally occurring underground 
                coal fires that have been smoldering for hundreds, if 
                not thousands, of years. Similarly, Smoky Mountain is 
                dotted with natural chimneys that release hot smoke and 
                sulfuric gasses from the coal fires below. Despite the 
                hostile environment, this area is home to a number of 
                rare and endemic plant species, including Atwood 
                evening primrose and Smoky Mountain globemallow, as 
                well as a thriving herd of desert bighorn sheep and 
                nesting areas for a high density of raptors.

                The lower benches of the Kaiparowits Plateau, including 
                John Henry Bench, Tibbet Bench, Nipple Bench, and Jack 
                Riggs Bench, lie to the west of Smoky Mountain and 
                provide important habitat for big game, including 
                desert bighorn sheep and pronghorn, and sweeping views 
                to the south. The Cretaceous Wahweap Formation runs 
                through the area and has been the site of many 
                important fossil finds, including turtle shells, 
                dinosaurs, and crocodile teeth. Just west of Nipple 
                Bench are the Wahweap Hoodoos, ghostly white formations 
                with brown capstones that can appear to float in the 
                right conditions.

                Alvey Wash is situated in the northern part of the 
                Kaiparowits Plateau, close to the Straight Cliffs, and 
                north of Death Ridge. In addition to providing access 
                to the interior of the Kaiparowits Plateau, the Alvey 
                Wash area contains geologic objects of historic and 
                scientific interest, including various arches and 
                portions of the Smoky Mountain Road State Scenic 
                Backway, a remote, unpaved route that offers 
                unparalleled views of Lake Powell and the Kaiparowits 
                Plateau. The region's fossil-rich Cretaceous rocks 
                contain more than a hundred known recorded 
                paleontological sites. Alvey Wash, which likely acted 
                as an important travel route between the Escalante 
                River and the top of the Kaiparowits Plateau, also 
                contains several important Fremont and Ancestral Pueblo 
                sites, including rock writings, rock shelters, 
                cliffside storage structures, and pithouses.

                In the northern part of the landscape, east of the 
                towns of Tropic and Cannonville, are the Blues, an area 
                named for the blue-grey sandstone that provides a 
                striking contrast against the forested uplands and the 
                pink and white cliffs of Powell Point towering in the 
                background. The velvety gray slopes of these shale 
                badlands include exposures of the Kaiparowits Formation 
                that are unique on the Colorado Plateau. Representing 
                rapid accumulation of sediment during the Late 
                Cretaceous Period, the stratigraphy has facilitated the 
                discovery of a diversity of fossils, including early 
                mammals,

[[Page 57342]]

                lizards, dinosaurs, crocodilians, turtles, mollusks, 
                and some fossils found nowhere else on Earth, including 
                one of the largest oviraptors ever discovered. This 
                area may also provide habitat for many raptor species, 
                including Swainson's hawks, golden eagles, and 
                peregrine falcons.

                South of the Blues, the Butler Valley area provides 
                jaw-dropping views of multi-colored sandstone cliffs to 
                the north and contains important microvertebrate fossil 
                localities in the Smoky Hollow Member of the Straight 
                Cliffs Formation found near the upper reaches of 
                Wiggler Wash. Also nearby is Grosvenor Arch, a rare 
                double arch with sandstone buttresses that soars 150 
                feet in the air, as well as the tight canyons of Butler 
                Valley and Round Valley Draw.

                To the west of the Cockscomb lies the Hackberry Canyon 
                area, with a deep gorge containing towering Wingate 
                Sandstone cliffs and impressive narrows, and Yellow 
                Rock, a smooth-sided dome that obtains its unique 
                appearance from evaporated pools of water and the 
                presence of limonite in its swirling Navajo Sandstone. 
                With limited vegetation, Yellow Rock provides a 
                commanding view of Hackberry Canyon to the north, the 
                Paria River to the west, and the Cockscomb to the east. 
                The area's high scenic quality is further enhanced by a 
                number of towering arches, including Sam Pollock Arch, 
                which spans 70 feet in a tributary of Hackberry Canyon. 
                The Hackberry Canyon area contains Virgin Branch of 
                Ancestral Pueblo sites, such as rock shelters, 
                pithouses, lithic scatters, and masonry structures, as 
                well as rock writings that can be found in side 
                canyons. Hackberry Canyon also contains evidence of 
                later Anglo habitation, including Watson Cabin, a one-
                room log cabin with a fieldstone chimney that was built 
                in the early 1890s and is one of the few standing 
                pioneer structures in the region.

                To the west of the Kaiparowits Plateau, the Upper Paria 
                River complex is a highly scenic and colorful maze of 
                canyons, arches, and ``hydrothermal-collapse'' pipes 
                and dikes that expose the multihued Carmel and Entrada 
                Formations. The area is home to many perennial streams, 
                the Paria River, and hundreds of acres of riparian 
                vegetation, all of which support a particularly rich 
                diversity of terrestrial vertebrate and avian species. 
                Flowing continuously for most of the year thanks to 
                water from the higher elevations in the north and west, 
                the area's perennial streams have left the area 
                dissected with canyons that eventually drain into the 
                Paria River. As the flow increases, the Paria River 
                cuts its way through a series of benches and cliffs 
                that form a portion of the Grand Staircase as it 
                meanders towards its confluence with the Colorado River 
                near Lee's Ferry. For example, there is the spring-fed 
                Willis Creek, which flows year-round through a 
                moderately deep gorge that contains several sections of 
                elegant narrows. Other nearby canyons, although dry 
                most of the year, are subject to extreme erosional 
                events from passing storms, such as Lick Wash, a deep 
                canyon enclosed by horizontally striated white 
                sandstone walls that are hundreds of feet high, and 
                Bull Valley Gorge, an impressively deep and narrow 
                canyon cut through Navajo Sandstone containing a 
                variety of rock formations and colors. The Upper Paria 
                River complex contains paleontological sites found in 
                strata from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The 
                Paria River corridor is also the site of the Paria 
                ghost town, the only historic townsite in the monument. 
                First settled by Latter-day Saint pioneers in 1865 as a 
                farming community, the town was largely abandoned after 
                a series of floods in the late 1800s, save for a post 
                office, which served the area for many years.

                After the Paria River crosses the Cockscomb and enters 
                Cottonwood Canyon, it feeds a rich riparian area that 
                provides important habitat for the endangered 
                southwestern willow flycatcher. Cottonwood Canyon and 
                the nearby Rimrocks area are home to a number of rare 
                plants, such as the Tropic goldeneye and Atwood's 
                pretty phacelia. This area, down to West Clark Bench, 
                is also characterized by high ecological system 
                diversity and is home to a number of rare bee species 
                as well as a number of hot desert endemic species of 
                bees in the northernmost known extent of their range.

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                The Rimrocks area is home to striking geological 
                formations known as the Toadstool Hoodoos, fascinating 
                features composed of Dakota Sandstone boulders perched 
                precariously atop softer and eroded Entrada Sandstone, 
                and a narrow slot canyon that contains rock writings. 
                Further east, other geological formations include the 
                White Rocks, and to the south, the area around the East 
                and West Clark Benches forms a barren and austere 
                landscape that exposes Jurassic and Cretaceous Period 
                rocks rich in paleontological resources.

                On the west side of the landscape is the Grand 
                Staircase, a series of intensely colorful cliffs and 
                plateaus that connect Bryce Canyon to the Grand Canyon. 
                The Grey Cliffs are composed of soft Cretaceous shale 
                and sandstone in subdued shades of gray, brown, and 
                yellow that were deposited approximately 130 million 
                years ago. The White Cliffs are high white or yellow 
                cliffs of Navajo Sandstone that consistently reach 
                heights of more than 1,000 feet. The area is home to 
                rare and endemic bee species, particularly near Timber 
                Mountain. The area also contains a number of relict 
                plant communities on the sky islands of No Man's Mesa 
                and Little No Man's Mesa, whose steep walls have 
                guarded such communities for thousands of years, 
                providing a living window into the past. Further south, 
                the eponymous Vermilion Cliffs, once the shoreline for 
                the ancient Lake Dixie, contain fossilized fish, 
                dinosaurs, and early reptiles, as well as multiple 
                tracksites. The Flag Point tracksite provides an 
                enduring testament to humans' fascination with the 
                traces of epochs past. The site contains a series of 
                theropod tracks leading right to the cliff edge and, 
                nearby, pictographs of the tracks that were likely left 
                by ancient indigenous peoples living in nearby 
                communities. The Grand Staircase area is also replete 
                with evidence of thousands of years of human 
                habitation. Pre-historic projectile points and hunter-
                gatherer residential pit structures are found in the 
                higher elevations, whereas evidence of some of the 
                earliest corn-related agriculture in the Southwest, 
                developed by the Virgin Branch of Ancestral Pueblos, as 
                well as evidence of the Southern Paiute people, who 
                identify this area as part of their ancestral homeland, 
                are found in the lower elevations. This area also 
                contains a number of other unusual and important 
                resources, including a high density of petrified wood 
                and rare and endemic plant species, such as the Higgins 
                spring parsley and Kane breadroot.

                The Buckskin Mountain area, located southeast of the 
                Vermilion Cliffs and west of the Cockscomb, is a unique 
                lithological area, rich in rocks from the Triassic 
                Period and late Paleozoic Era. It also provides winter 
                range for the renowned Paunsaugunt mule deer herd and 
                is the location of the Eagle Sink, a stunning sinkhole 
                where the surrounding limestone collapsed to create an 
                enormous 160-foot depression. The area also contains 
                many Ancestral Pueblo cultural sites and provides 
                access to the primary trailheads used to access 
                Buckskin Gulch--the longest slot canyon in the United 
                States, with walls ascending up to 400 feet--located in 
                the adjacent Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.

                Protection of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
                Monument will preserve its cultural, prehistoric, and 
                historic legacy and maintain its diverse array of 
                natural and scientific resources, ensuring that the 
                prehistoric, historic, and scientific values of this 
                area remain for the benefit of all Americans. 
                Reservation of these lands will preserve the living 
                laboratory within the monument boundaries that will 
                facilitate significant scientific discoveries for years 
                to come. The area contains numerous objects of historic 
                and scientific interest, and it provides world-class 
                outdoor recreation opportunities, including rock 
                climbing, hunting, hiking, backpacking, canyoneering, 
                river running, mountain biking, and horseback riding, 
                that support a travel and tourism sector that is a 
                source of economic opportunity for the region.

                WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code 
                (known as the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the 
                President, in his discretion, to declare by public 
                proclamation historic landmarks, historic and 
                prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic 
                or scientific interest that are situated

[[Page 57344]]

                upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal 
                Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as 
                a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which 
                shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with 
                the proper care and management of the objects to be 
                protected; and

                WHEREAS, Proclamation 6920 of September 18, 1996, 
                designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
                Monument in the State of Utah and reserved 
                approximately 1.7 million acres of Federal lands as the 
                smallest area compatible with the proper care and 
                management of objects of historic and scientific 
                interest; and

                WHEREAS, on three separate occasions the Congress 
                adjusted the boundaries of the monument--the Utah 
                Schools and Lands Exchange Act of 1998, Public Law 105-
                335, 112 Stat. 3139; title II of Public Law 105-355, 
                112 Stat. 3247, 3252 (1998); and section 2604 of the 
                Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Public Law 
                111-11, 123 Stat. 991, 1120--ultimately increasing the 
                Federal lands reserved for the monument by more than 
                180,000 acres.

                WHEREAS, Proclamation 9682 of December 4, 2017, 
                modifies the management direction of the Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante National Monument and excludes 
                nearly half of the lands reserved in Proclamation 6920, 
                which include lands containing objects of historic and 
                scientific interest that Proclamation 6920 identifies 
                as needing protection, such as portions of Circle 
                Cliffs and Waterpocket Fold; and

                WHEREAS, December 4, 2017, was the first time that a 
                President asserted that the Antiquities Act included 
                the authority to reduce the boundaries of a national 
                monument or remove objects from protection under the 
                Antiquities Act since the 1976 passage of the Federal 
                Land Policy and Management Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 
                1701 et seq.); and

                WHEREAS, I find that each of the historic and 
                scientific resources identified above and in 
                Proclamation 6920 are objects of historic or scientific 
                interest in need of protection under 54 U.S.C. 320301; 
                and

                WHEREAS, I find that the unique nature of the Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante landscape, and the collection of 
                objects and resources therein, make the entire 
                landscape within the boundaries reserved by this 
                proclamation an object of historic and scientific 
                interest in need of protection under 54 U.S.C. 320301; 
                and

                WHEREAS, I find that there are threats to the objects 
                identified in this proclamation and Proclamation 6920; 
                and

                WHEREAS, I find, in the absence of a reservation under 
                the Antiquities Act, the objects identified in this 
                proclamation and in Proclamation 6920 are not 
                adequately protected by otherwise applicable law or 
                administrative designations because neither provide the 
                Department of the Interior with the specific mandate to 
                ensure proper care and management of the objects, nor 
                do they withdraw the lands from the operation of the 
                public land, mining, and mineral leasing laws, and so a 
                national monument reservation is necessary to protect 
                the objects of historic and scientific interest in the 
                Grand Staircase-Escalante region for current and future 
                generations; and

                WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the monument 
                reserved by this proclamation represent the smallest 
                area compatible with the protection of the objects of 
                historic or scientific interest as required by the 
                Antiquities Act; and

                WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to ensure the 
                preservation, restoration, and protection of the 
                objects of historic or scientific interest on the Grand 
                Staircase-Escalante lands, including the entire 
                monument landscape, reserved within the boundaries 
                established by this proclamation;

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by the authority vested 
                in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States 
                Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above and 
                in

[[Page 57345]]

                Proclamation 6920 that are situated upon lands and 
                interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal 
                Government to be the Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
                Monument (monument) and, for the purpose of protecting 
                those objects, reserve as part thereof all lands and 
                interests in lands not currently reserved as part of a 
                monument reservation and that are owned or controlled 
                by the Federal Government within the boundaries 
                described on the accompanying map, which is attached to 
                and forms a part of this proclamation. These reserved 
                Federal lands and interests in lands consist of those 
                lands reserved as part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
                National Monument as of December 3, 2017, encompassing 
                approximately 1.87 million acres. As a result of the 
                distribution of the objects across the Grand Staircase-
                Escalante landscape, and additionally and 
                independently, because the landscape itself is an 
                object in need of protection, the boundaries described 
                on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest 
                area compatible with the proper care and management of 
                the objects of historic or scientific interest 
                identified above and in Proclamation 6920.

                All Federal lands and interests in lands within the 
                boundaries of the monument are hereby appropriated and 
                withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection, 
                sale, or other disposition under the public land laws, 
                from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, 
                and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral 
                and geothermal leasing, other than by exchange that 
                furthers the protective purposes of the monument.

                This proclamation is subject to valid existing rights. 
                If the Federal Government subsequently acquires any 
                lands or interests in lands not owned or controlled by 
                the Federal Government within the boundaries described 
                on the accompanying map, such lands and interests in 
                lands shall be reserved as a part of the monument, and 
                objects identified above that are situated upon those 
                lands and interests in lands shall be part of the 
                monument, upon acquisition of ownership or control by 
                the Federal Government.

                The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall manage 
                the monument through the Bureau of Land Management 
                (BLM), as a unit of the National Landscape Conservation 
                System, and in accordance with the terms, conditions, 
                and management direction provided by this proclamation 
                and, unless otherwise specifically provided herein, 
                those provided by Proclamation 6920, the latter of 
                which are incorporated herein by reference. To the 
                extent any provision of Proclamation 9682 is 
                inconsistent with Proclamation 6920 or this 
                proclamation, the terms of this proclamation and 
                Proclamation 6920 shall govern. To further the orderly 
                management of monument lands, the monument will be 
                managed as a single unit comprising the entire 1.87 
                million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
                Monument.

                For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects 
                identified above and in Proclamation 6920, the 
                Secretary shall prepare and maintain a new management 
                plan for the entire monument. The Secretary, through 
                the BLM, shall consult with other Federal land 
                management agencies or agency components in the local 
                area, including the National Park Service, in 
                developing the management plan. The Secretary shall 
                provide for maximum public involvement in the 
                development of that plan, including consultation with 
                federally recognized Tribal Nations and State and local 
                governments. In the development and implementation of 
                the management plan, the Secretary shall maximize 
                opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal 
                authorities, for shared resources, operational 
                efficiency, and cooperation.

                The Secretary, through the BLM, shall maintain an 
                advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee 
                Act (5 U.S.C. App.) with the specific purpose of 
                providing information and advice regarding the 
                development of the management plan and, as appropriate, 
                management of the monument, including scientific 
                research that occurs therein. This advisory committee 
                shall consist of a fair and balanced representation of 
                interested stakeholders, including State and local 
                governments, Tribal Nations, recreational users, 
                conservation organizations, educators, local business 
                owners, private landowners, and the scientific 
                community, which may include members with

[[Page 57346]]

                expertise in archaeology, paleontology, entomology, 
                geology, botany, wildlife biology, social science, or 
                systems ecology.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the rights or jurisdiction of any Tribal 
                Nation. The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent 
                permitted by law and in consultation with Tribal 
                Nations, ensure the protection of sacred sites and 
                cultural properties and sites in the monument and 
                provide access to Tribal members for traditional 
                cultural, spiritual, and customary uses, consistent 
                with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1996) and Executive Order 13007 of May 24, 1996 
                (Indian Sacred Sites), including collection of 
                medicines, berries and other vegetation, forest 
                products, and firewood for personal noncommercial use 
                in a manner consistent with the care and management of 
                the objects identified above and in Proclamation 6920.

                The Secretary shall manage livestock grazing as 
                authorized under existing permits or leases, and 
                subject to appropriate terms and conditions in 
                accordance with existing laws and regulations, 
                consistent with the care and management of the objects 
                identified above and in Proclamation 6920. Should 
                grazing permits or leases be voluntarily relinquished 
                by existing holders, the Secretary shall retire from 
                livestock grazing the lands covered by such permits or 
                leases pursuant to the processes of applicable law. 
                Forage shall not be reallocated for livestock grazing 
                purposes unless the Secretary specifically finds that 
                such reallocation will advance the purposes of this 
                proclamation and Proclamation 6920.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to 
                alter the authority or responsibility of any party with 
                respect to emergency response activities within the 
                monument, including wildland fire response.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke 
                any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; 
                however, the monument shall be the dominant 
                reservation.

                Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not 
                to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature 
                of the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of 
                the lands thereof.

                If any provision of this proclamation, including its 
                application to a particular parcel of land, is held to 
                be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and its 
                application to other parcels of land shall not be 
                affected thereby.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3395-F2-P


[[Page 57347]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD15OC21.007


[FR Doc. 2021-22673
Filed 10-14-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C