Utah delegation seeks to overturn Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan after GAO ruling

Hikers lining up at the trailheads of Grand Staircase‑Escalante could be looking at a different map of protections after a Government Accountability Office opinion reported Jan. 15, 2026 found the Bureau of Land Management's January 2025 resource and management plan qualifies as a "rule" subject to the Congressional Review Act. The monument spans roughly 1.9 million acres and draws about one million visitors a year to two Utah counties whose towns total fewer than 14,000 residents, making any policy shift potentially consequential for local economies and access.

The GAO opinion was requested by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R‑UT‑02) in July 2025, a move Earthjustice described as having been made "secretly" that month. E&E News reported that because the BLM never submitted the finalized January 2025 management plan to Congress, the GAO concluded the plan is eligible for CRA review, a procedural finding several conservation groups say could let lawmakers nullify the plan without the public process that went into it.

The Congressional Review Act, enacted in 1996, allows Congress to overturn certain recent federal agency rules through a resolution of disapproval. InsideClimateNews and other outlets note Congress would typically have a 60‑day window to consider such a resolution, and Conservation Lands Foundation emphasizes that if lawmakers rescind the rule under CRA the agency would be barred from issuing a new plan "substantially the same" as the rescinded plan.

Conservation Lands Foundation has publicly urged action, saying Utah's federal delegation — named in the group's statement as "Senators Lee & Curtis, Representatives Owens, Moore, Maloy, and Kennedy" — is expected to introduce a CRA bill imminently. Subscriber Politico and E&E News caution it remains unclear whether Maloy or other delegation members will file the resolution and whether the House or Senate will take the measure up; Politico also notes Sen. Mike Lee chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Local and national conservation groups have pushed back sharply. Steve Bloch, legal director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said, "This is a direct assault by Utah politicians on one of the crown jewels of America’s system of federal public lands. Any attempt to leverage this obscure federal law against the monument is an effort to thwart the will of millions of Americans who have repeatedly stood up in support of Grand Staircase‑Escalante, its wild red rock landscape, and its irreplaceable cultural and fossil resources. Republicans are currently attempting to use the CRA to remove protections for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — neither landscape should be under attack and we encourage all Americans to contact their members of Congress and speak out in opposition." Jackie Grant, executive director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners and a Kanab resident, added, "Using the Congressional Review Act to undo the Grand Staircase‑Escalante management plan is a disrespectful overreach that ignores years of local input, science, and Tribal consultation. This plan reflects years of hard work by the people who live nearby, work in, and care deeply about this place."

Reporters and analysts warn the stakes extend beyond Utah. InsideClimateNews and Conservation Lands Foundation argue the GAO opinion could pave the way for Congress to rescind management plans nationwide, potentially opening previously protected lands to a "far friendlier to development" management approach and resource extraction. Wyomingnews highlighted the monument's recent history: President Trump reduced its size in 2017 and President Biden restored it, and observers including the Mountain States Legal Foundation have warned such moves could create a "Wild West" for land‑use planning.

With the GAO opinion public and conservation groups mobilized, legal and legislative maneuvers now hinge on whether a CRA resolution is filed and whether both chambers of Congress will act within the CRA timeline to rescind the January 2025 management plan. If Congress were to pass a resolution of disapproval, the plan would be eliminated and BLM would be barred from issuing a substantially similar replacement.