Escalante National Monument is in Utah, and was established during Franklin Roosevelt's presidency. In September of 1996, President Clinton designated Grand Staircase as a huge national monument, which at 1.9 million acres dominates any map of Southern Utah.
The combined monument is known as The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM). Originally 1,880,461 acres of protected land in southern Utah in 1996, the monument's size was later reduced by a succeeding presidential proclamation in 2017 (President Trump). The land is among the most remote in the country; it was the last to be mapped in the contiguous United States
Ah, yes, I’d forgotten I’d been there!
The site of America’s famously-best coal fields, sealed-off from mining when WJC needed re-election million$ from Malaysia—and Malaysia’s own coal production needed protection. The “surprise” off-limits signing, with Alford in attendance:
We live in southern UT. Last year we took a drive in our 4-wheel-drive SUV from Page through the monument up to Escalante. Quite an experience. The land was desolate and beautiful...all 110 miles we drove. On the miles and miles of slick rock, sand, dirt, rock and so forth we only saw two other people. They were riding horses, herding their few cattle up near Escalante. There large surface coals seams throughout the area. The desolate landscape contained many cool geological formations. Google “Kelly’s Grade” to see videos of the “road” going up the steep plateau at the start of the drive. Wow! As to the coal plant and its stacks...it is a microdot in that vast area of millions of acres...of nothing. What a shame to close it (them) down. Econuts win again.