New Grand Staircase Plans Green Light Mining on Public Lands Trump Stripped from National Park

Under a new plan released August 23, 2019, hundreds of thousands of acres inside what used to be Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will be available for mining

Hundreds of thousands of acres inside what used to be Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will be opened to mining and drilling under a plan the Bureau of Land Management released Friday [8/23/19], renewing charges that Trump’s executive action reducing the 23-year-old preserve was engineered to promote energy extraction in some of America’s most scenic landscapes.

The Staircase plan encompasses much more territory, 1.9 million acres, nearly half of which had been managed as a monument for two decades.

This is the plan. Take everything, and give it to corporations and the rich.  They're stripping America for parts.

The plan could allow mineral development on up to 700,000 acres yanked from the monument.... Trump’s proclamation that paved the way for mining claims and gas leases on those lands.

Since the monument reduction, 19 mining claims have been filed... doesn’t anticipate seeing any mines or drill rigs on former monument lands “in my lifetime,” given the arduous environmental process any new project would face.

“These management plans seek to cement the Trump administration legacy of destroying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,” said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “That seems to be the objective certainly for excluded lands, which are going to be in large part available for mineral leasing and extractive development. To make matters worse, the BLM is going to prioritize motorized recreation across a large swath of the original 1.9 million acres.”

Source: https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2019/08/23/new-grand-staircase-plans/