Oppose Joint Resolution to Nullify Grand Staircase-Escalante Management Plan

I urge you to vote NO on Senator Mike Lee's joint resolution to nullify the Bureau of Land Management's management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This resolution represents a dangerous misuse of the Congressional Review Act that would erase years of collaborative work and set a destructive precedent for public lands management nationwide. The management plan being targeted was finalized in January 2025 after years of public input, tribal consultation, and scientific review. It governs the fully restored 1.9-million-acre monument that President Biden reinstated in 2021. The plan prioritizes conservation science, protects globally significant fossil beds, limits new mineral leasing, and formalizes a larger role for tribal co-management. Local leaders, communities, tribal nations, scientists, and experts invested substantial time and expertise to develop this framework for one of the most scientifically and culturally significant landscapes in the United States. Overturning this plan would remove critical protections for some of the most astounding fossil beds in our country and eliminate safeguards for areas sacred to local tribes. The consequences extend far beyond this single monument. Under the Congressional Review Act, if this resolution passes, the BLM would be permanently barred from issuing another rule that is "substantially the same" in the future. The agency could never restore a similar management framework for Grand Staircase-Escalante. The broader implications are equally alarming. Using the CRA to attack land use plans establishes a precedent that puts every similar management plan at risk on federal lands across the country. These plans typically do not go through formal rulemaking procedures and have never been considered "rules" under the CRA. Critically, CRA actions cannot be challenged in court, meaning there would be no legal remedy if this extensively researched plan simply disappears with a majority vote. This coordinated effort by Representative Celeste Maloy and Senator Mike Lee threatens to dismantle protections built through legitimate public processes. I ask you to stand with science, tribal sovereignty, and responsible land stewardship by voting NO on this resolution.