The BLM is an agency in the US Department of the Interior that manages approximately one-quarter billion 

acres – more than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is 

primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. Approximately 27 million acres of BLM administered 

lands make up the collection of National Conservation Lands, also known as the National Landscape 

Conservation System. These include BLM National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, and National Scenic and 

Historic Trails. The mission of the National Conservation Lands is to conserve, protect, and restore these nationally significant landscapes that are recognized for 

their outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values.

Title of Resource/Resource Use

Bureau of Land Management

US Department of Interior

Livestock Grazing Plan Amendment EIS

NEWSLETTER #4 - August 2015

Grand Staircase-Escalante 

National Monument

BLM - Utah

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I am pleased to provide in this newsletter some updates on our Livestock Grazing EIS process, products related to the 

planning effort, some clarification on grazing use levels, and also invite you to attend a restoration forum and field tour.

Since our last newsletter we have been working with our Cooperating Agencies to finalize the Analysis of Management 

Situation (AMS) and the Socioeconomic Baseline Study. The AMS describes current conditions and trends of resources, uses 

and activities in the planning area, and identifies management opportunities to respond to issues. The Socioeconomic 

Baseline Study provides an overview of the socioeconomic conditions which exist in the planning area and lays out the 

general concept of social and economic impact analysis that will be used in the planning process. A description of these 

documents and a link to them is included in this newsletter. 

The topic of restoration is often discussed not only among BLM and our Cooperators, but also locally and statewide, as we 

look across landscapes and evaluate, establish, and maintain healthy landscapes. BLM and our Cooperators are hosting a 

two-day Vegetation Restoration Forum here in Kanab at the Kanab City Library on August 18 and 19, 2015. We are bringing 

together a panel of experts to discuss why and how we do vegetation restoration, the goals of our restoration projects, and 

how we prioritize our efforts. I invite you to mark your 

calendars and join us for a lively and enlightening discussion 

and an opportunity to go out in the field to see some 

restoration projects.

Thank you for your interest in livestock grazing management 

on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Glen 

Canyon National Recreation Area, and other public lands 

within the planning area. We encourage and look forward to 

your continued involvement in this important planning 

process.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Staszak

Monument Manager

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is 

preparing an amendment to its 2000 Monument 

Management Plan (MMP). Amending the MMP will 

integrate livestock grazing and rangeland management 

with the management of other resources. The 

amendment will also integrate Glen Canyon National 

Recreation Area values and purposes into livestock 

management decisions for lands within the National 

Recreation Area where GSENM administers livestock 

grazing.

This is the fourth in a series of newsletters to keep you 

informed about the planning process and to announce 

the availability of the Analysis of the Management 

Situation and the Socioeconomic Baseline Report.
Page 2 - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - Livestock Grazing Plan Amendment / EIS - Newsletter #4 - August 2015 

The Planning Area 

The planning area includes all public lands within Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument (GSENM) and public lands for 

which GSENM has livestock grazing administration responsibility. 

This includes Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands within the 

Monument and additional lands within portions of the Kanab 

Field Office and the Arizona Strip Field Office as well as lands 

managed by the National Park Service (NPS) in Glen Canyon 

National Recreation Area (Glen Canyon). Small areas of 

additional state, municipal, and private lands also border or are 

contained within the planning area.

Cooperating Agencies

The BLM invited eligible federal agencies,state and local 

governments, and Native American tribes to participate as 

Cooperating Agencies. These agencies were invited to participate 

because they have jurisdiction by law or have special expertise. 

Five agencies agreed to serve as Cooperating Agencies: 

 NPS - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

 State of Utah

 Garfield County

 Kane County 

 Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Livestock Grazing Use Levels

During the course of this planning effort we have fielded many 

questions about grazing use levels on the Monument. Although 

actual grazing use levels have varied considerably from year to 

year due to external factors, primarily rainfall and available 

forage, no reductions in permitted livestock grazing use have 

been made as a result of the Monument’s designation nearly 20 

years ago. 

When the BLM talks about the number 

of cattle permitted to graze on public 

lands, it uses the term “Animal Unit 

Month” or AUM. An AUM is the 

amount of forage needed to sustain 

one cow and her calf (or one horse) for 

a month. The total of permitted AUMs 

on the Monument is 106,202. That 

number is roughly the same as it has 

been since the early 1990s. The fluctuations that have happened 

in permitted use over the years have been from the addition of 

AUMs when BLM acquired the School and Institutional Trust Lands 

within the Monument and some reduction in AUMs when a 1999 

amendment to an older management plan, under standard BLM 

planning processes, closed several allotments and pastures in 

GSENM and neighboring Glen Canyon, to protect riparian 

resources and reduce recreation conflicts along perennial streams. 

In contrast to permitted use, actual use levels vary from year-toyear. Actual use is the number of cows put out on allotments each 

grazing season. The ranchers and BLM work together each year to 

make voluntary use adjustments to the number of cows put out 

based on monitoring results, weather and the resulting forage 

produced that season, and the variability in a rancher’s livestock 

operations. Actual use levels in the planning area have averaged 

just over 41,000 AUMs annually over the past 20 years. 

Analysis of the Management 

Situation Available

The Analysis of the 

Management Situation (AMS) 

describes the current 

resource conditions and 

trends in resources, as well as 

uses and activities in the 

planning area. It presents 

current management 

direction from the Monument 

Management Plan (MMP) and 

older Management 

Framework Plans with respect 

to livestock grazing. The 

report also identifies 

opportunities for change in 

management. 

This report can be downloaded from the GSENM website at 

http://blm.gov/pgld. A hard copy for review is available at the 

GSENM Offices in Kanab and Escalante during regular business 

hours (8:00 am – 4:30 pm), Monday through Friday, except 

holidays:

Kanab BLM Headquarters, 669 HWY 89A, Kanab, Utah 84741

Escalante Interagency Visitor Center, 755 W. Main, Escalante, 

Utah, 84726
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - Livestock Grazing Plan Amendment / EIS - Newsletter #4 - August 2015 - Page 3

 Common Acronyms

AMS - Analysis of Management Situation

BLM - Bureau of Land Management

EIS - Environmental Impact Statement

GSENM - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Glen Canyon - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

MMP - Monument Management Plan

MMP-A - Monument Management Plan Amendment

NPS - National Park Service

NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service

Socioeconomic Baseline 

Report Available

The Socioeconomic Baseline Report looks at how economic activity 

affects and is shaped by social processes in and around GSENM. 

The report provides a “slice in time” overview of the 

socioeconomic conditions 

which exist as a backdrop for 

the planning effort, and it lays 

out the general concepts of 

social and economic impacts 

analysis which will be applied 

as part of the planning and 

decision-making process. In 

the report, you will find recent 

economic summaries and 

charts pertaining to the three 

counties surrounding GSENM: 

Kane and Garfield Counties in 

Utah and Coconino County in 

Arizona. The report can be 

downloaded from the GSENM 

website at http://blm.gov/pgld. A hard copy for review is 

available at the GSENM Offices in Kanab and Escalante during 

regular business hours (8:00 am – 4:30 pm), Monday through 

Friday, except holidays:

Kanab BLM Headquarters, 669 HWY 89A, Kanab, Utah 84741

Escalante Interagency Visitor Center, 755 W. Main, Escalante, 

Utah, 84726

Vegetation Restoration 

Forum - You’re Invited

What does “restoration” mean when talking about public lands? 

Why do restoration? How do you decide where and when to do 

restoration? How do you actually do restoration? These four 

seemly simple questions are the focus of a two-day Southern Utah 

Vegetation Restoration Forum being held August 18 and 19, 2015 

in Kanab, Utah. The public is invited and encouraged to attend 

this free event.

Restoration is returning disturbed areas to a natural array of 

native plant and animal associations. This may sound easy, but in 

practice, restoration to a pre-disturbance condition is often very 

difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Restoration is more than 

just returning vegetation to a site; it is also the return of the entire 

ecosystem, including soil characteristics, water relations, 

associated wildlife and non-dominant plants. The What, Why, 

When, Where and How that may be achieved related to 

restoration efforts will be at the center of the discussion.

The forum has two parts: a panel discussion on restoration 

starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 18, at the Kanab City Library, 

374 North Main Street; and a field trip to look at restoration sites 

on Wednesday, August 19, leaving from 

the Kanab BLM Headquarters Building, 

669 South Highway 89A at 8:45 a.m.

Participants in the Tuesday panel include: 

 Hal Gordon, Economist, NRCS; 

 Shane Green, Rangeland Management 

Specialist, NRCS; 

 Mary O’Brien, Utah Forests Program 

Director, Grand Canyon Trust; 

 Adrienne Pilmanis, Botanist, BLM; 

 Karen Prentice, Healthy Lands Initiative 

Coordinator, BLM; 

 Bruce Roundy, Plant and Wildlife 

Sciences Faculty, Brigham Young 

University; and 

 Jason Vernon, Habitat Restoration 

Coordinator, Utah Division of Wildlife 

Resources. 

The panel discussion will be recorded and 

available electronically shortly after the 

forum concludes. 

Wednesday’s field trip will take panel 

members and interested members of the 

public out to look at actual restoration 

sites – the Five Mile Sagebrush 

Restoration Project; restoration work 

along Skutumpah Road and Thompson 

Creek; and along the Coal Road to look at 

five years of restoration efforts. 

Participants should bring their own 

transportation – high-clearance, 4-wheeldrive vehicles are recommended; dress for hot weather and 

consider the need for a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen; and bring 

water and a brown bag lunch.

To register to attend the forum discussion, the field trip or both, go 

to: http://restorationforum.eventbrite.com/ and register. A link 

to the registration site is also available on our website at: 

http://blm.gov/pgld.
US Department of the Interior

Bureau of Land Management

Escalante National Monument - Grand Staircase

669 South HWY 89A

Kanab, UT 84741

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300

Escalante National Monument - BLM Grand Staircase

Livestock Grazing Plan Amendment/EIS 

Newsletter #4

, visit For more information

the BLM’s project website:

http://blm.gov/pgld

Livestock Grazing Plan Amendment EIS

NEWSLETTER #4 - August 2015

Grand Staircase-Escalante 

National Monument

What’s Next?

BLM continues to work on the final alternatives that will be 

brought forward for detailed analysis in the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS). Once those are determined, BLM will post 

the alternatives on the project website to inform the public and 

begin analysis of the impacts of the final alternatives.

Based on public comments received and an analysis of the 

alternatives’ impacts, a preferred alternative will then be selected. 

The analysis of the alternatives, including the preferred one, will 

be included in the Draft MMP-A/EIS. 

When the Draft MMP-A/EIS is published, GSENM will announce its 

availability for public review and comment. After announcing the 

Draft MMP-A/EIS is ready for review, GSENM will host public 

meetings to answer your questions, discuss the contents of the 

Draft MMP-A/EIS, and accept comments. You will have at least 90 

days to provide comments. The Draft MMP-A/EIS is slated to be 

published Summer 2016. 

Mark Your Calendars

Southern Utah Vegetation Restoration Forum

August 18 - 19, 2015 - Kanab, Utah 

Draft Monument Management Plan Amendment EIS 

Available for 90-Day Public Review and Comment 

Summer 2016

Proposed Plan Amendment - Final EIS Available 

Summer 2017

Records of Decision Issued and Plan Amendment Approved

Winter 2017