Navajo Nation delegate raises concerns over Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan challenge

Council Delegate Curtis Yanito and representatives of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition met with congressional staff in Washington, D.C., on May 12 and May 13, to discuss concerns regarding efforts to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the current Grand Staircase-Escalante Resource Management Plan, according to a statement from the 25th Navajo Nation Council. Discussions focused on preserving tribal consultation, maintaining government-to-government relationships and protecting culturally and historically significant landscapes connected to tribal communities.

Coalition representatives reported that the House Rules Committee agenda did not include Grand Staircase-Escalante and that a House vote related to a Congressional Review Act challenge was not expected in the immediate future, the statement said. The coalition said the Resource Management Plan was developed through collaboration with tribal leaders, cultural specialists and natural resource representatives and incorporates Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and stewardship principles into monument management. Coalition members also expressed concerns that overturning the plan could affect future co-stewardship efforts and cultural resource protections tied to the monument.