Utah Delegation Files CRA Resolution to Nullify Grand Staircase-Escalante Resource Management Plan

Visitors and businesses that rely on Grand Staircase‑Escalante could see a sudden shift in who sets the rules for camping, grazing, mineral leasing, and recreation after Utah’s congressional delegation filed a Congressional Review Act resolution between March 3 and March 5, 2026 to nullify the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Plan finalized in January 2025 for the 1.87 million‑acre monument.

Senator Mike Lee (R‑UT) and Representative Celeste Maloy (R‑UT‑02) led the filing, and delegation press materials and regional reporting state the joint resolution is co‑sponsored by the entire Utah congressional delegation. As Moab Sun News put it, “Three weeks after announcing their intent, Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy on Tuesday formally filed the Congressional Review Act resolution needed to kill Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument's management plan — clearing the way for simple-majority votes in both chambers of Congress.”

The filing follows a rapid sequence of steps from Utah Republicans: Lee announced the CRA strategy on Feb. 13, 2026 and on Feb. 26 he submitted a Government Accountability Office opinion to the Congressional Record that classified the plan as a “rule” subject to CRA review. Representative Mike Kennedy’s office also issued press material saying he introduced the Joint Resolution of Disapproval “alongside Utah’s congressional delegation.” The Mikekennedy release includes the statement, “Under the Congressional Review Act, any such rule must be submitted to both chambers of Congress and the Comptroller General before it can take effect. The Joint Resolution introduced today is grounded in the GAO’s determination and ensures Congress exercises its statutory authority to review and, if necessary, disapprove of agency actions of this magnitude.”

If Congress passes the joint resolution by simple majorities in the House and Senate, the legal consequence is not merely rescission of the January 2025 RMP. As Moab Sun News cautioned, “If the resolution passes, BLM wouldn't just lose the current plan — the agency would be legally prohibited from crafting a similar one without new authorization from Congress, potentially leaving the monument without binding management guidance indefinitely.”

Conservation groups responded sharply. Conservation Lands Foundation CEO Chris Hill wrote in a statement datelined Kanab, UT / Washington, D.C.: “Grandstanding on the back of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to appease a select few who want to kick the public out of public lands willingly ignores local communities, business owners, and Tribes who support and rely on the balanced management of national monuments. It also ignores the overwhelming majority of voters in Utah and across western stateswho want Congress members to protect these places. It’s a Congressional power grab of the country’s national monuments and public lands, plain and simple, and Americans of all political identities will fight like hell to stop [...]” Conservation Lands supplied contact information for further comment: Kris Deutschman, kris(@)conservationlands.org.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance framed the move as urgent and procedural, warning that “Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), once a ‘resolution of disapproval’ is introduced (anticipated to occur any day), both chambers of Congress can expedite their votes and pass the measures by simple majority votes.” SUWA’s messaging includes social posts titled “fast-track the destruction of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument” and a “Debunking Rep. Maloy’s ‘Fact Sheet’ on Grand Staircase‑Escalante.”

The filing leaves several open questions tied to congressional procedure and attribution in delegation materials. Mikekennedy House copy attributes one of its quoted lines to “Senator Curtis,” a notation that appears inconsistent with other delegation materials. The GAO opinion Sen. Lee placed in the Congressional Record on Feb. 26 is the procedural hinge that made the CRA pathway possible; its text will be central as Capitol Hill schedules votes. With the RMP rooted in what Conservation Lands describes as years of public engagement, Tribal consultation, and scientific review and with Presidential Proclamation 10286 still cited as protecting the monument, the next congressional actions will determine whether local management choices revert to agencies or shift to lawmakers — and whether the monument’s management will remain on a stable timetable for visitors and local economies.