Priscilla Rattazzi

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been carved up to maximize access for extractive industries. Proponents of that change argue that it will strengthen the regional economy, but that assertion is doubtful. In reality, the most lucrative thing about Grand Staircase is the landscape itself. As of 2016, the outdoor-recreation industry in the United States brought in three hundred and seventy billion dollars, more than twice the value of the oil-and-gas industry. Twelve billion of those recreation dollars currently fuel Utah’s economy but they will dry up around Grand Staircase if it is opened to resource extraction.

Quoted from: “Why two chefs in small-town Utah are battling President Trump.” By Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, September 24, 2018

Yet here we go again, so let’s keep fighting @blake_spalding @seekingtreasureadventures @grandstaircasepartners @protectwildutah