Grand staircase Escalante. This was the first place I fell in love with the American southwest. Its seemingly endless backroads had us driving fast, windows down, four heads sticking out singing at the top of our lungs. We hiked across a Martian landscape to this oasis where we spent the night eating Thai curry under the stars. 

Escalante is one of 27 very special national monuments under review under an executive order which could result in the shrinking or abolishing of these areas. While I don’t know everything about this topic, many of these areas I have been to in person. They are treasures in every sense of the word and I favor preserving our public lands. For the first time EVER, the Department of the Interior is listening to public input so if you have an opinion now is the time to make your voice heard. Thank you to all of you who spoke at the capitol this week. 

Information below on how you can submit testimony:

Comments may be submitted online after May 12. Go to Regulations.gov and enter “DOI-2017-0002” in the Search bar and clicking “Search.” Comments also can be mailed to Monument Review, MS-1530, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240.

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