Becky Ginos
The City Journals
Utah is known for its amazing national parks, drawing millions of visitors from around the world each year. Those landscapes could be in danger, marred by a piece of legislation that was tucked into The One Big Beautiful Bill that Congress passed in the summer.
“There is a provision calling on the Interior Department to identify more lands that would be available for coal leasing,” said Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), whose mission is the preservation of Utah’s wilderness-quality lands. “What that ended up looking like was Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum last month (October) identified millions of acres across the West — 13 million acres. There were 48,000 acres of those identified in Utah.”On one hand, that might seem like Utah made out better than say, Montana, which has more than 6 million acres identified, he said. “But the lands that have been identified as newly available for coal leasing in Utah are really significant landscapes. When SUWA dug into it and looked more closely at where those lands were located, it really raised the alarm bells for us.”
That’s because this package of 48,000 acres included lands that are immediately adjacent to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and to Capitol Reef National Park, said Bloch. “It is in very close proximity to Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.”
For example, said Bloch, some of the tracts for coal leasing would be visible from the end of the scenic drive in Bryce Canyon from Yovimpa Point. “There would be coal tracts that you would be driving through if you were going from the eastern side of Capitol Reef National Park and driving to the Temples of the Sun and Moon. Or if you were driving from Highway 9 and you were driving up to hike the Zion Narrows, some of the coal leases would be right along or right on the road that would lead to that trailhead and ultimately be in the watershed of Zion.”
It feels like such a disconnect, he said. “Here in Utah, we’re so proud of the national parks and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and here is the administration almost thumbing their nose at all of that and saying, ‘Well, we’re going to make these lands available for leasing of coal.’”
It’s also interesting to note that the majority of that 48,000 acres, about 40,000 acres, were lands that the George W. Bush administration in 2008 specifically identified as unsuitable for coal mining, Bloch said. “It was mainly because of the proximity to the parks in the national monument. And yet here was Trump and his administration reversing that and saying, ‘No, let’s make those lands available.’”
There’s really nothing to challenge yet, he said. “What Burgum said was that these 48,000 acres along with the other 13 million acres across the West are now available for a coal company to come in and tell the Interior Department that they want to bid on it to acquire these leases.”
That would start another review process, Bloch said. “We’re going to remain vigilant for that. We think it’s really important that people understand what’s happening – exactly what the Trump administration is doing to some of Utah’s most significant national parks.”
Bloch said if it comes down to coal companies coming in and bidding, they would definitely get engaged in that process. “That would look like whatever kind of environmental reviews the Interior Department would do in the lead-up to making those lands available for leasing, like actually the leasing process itself.”
So if someone comes in and says they’re interested in a 500-acre or 1,000-acre tract and want to acquire a lease for that tract, there would be more environmental reviews and SUWA would work to defeat that proposal, he said. “First, it would be working with the Bureau of Land Management, who’s the agency that oversees it, and then, if necessary, we would appeal or litigate that kind of decision.”
Bloch said he would like to see the public get involved. “On the one hand, it’s just making sure people understand what’s happening in this administration and how it hits so close to home. Then I think it’s letting the members of our congressional delegation know that people are upset and shocked that there could be coal leasing right on the doorstep of these National Parks and Monuments.”
That’s not what Utahns want to see here, he said. “When visitors come to Utah from around the country and around the world to enjoy the national parks in our state, the public lands in our state, that is not why they’re coming here.”
There are multiple tribal nations who have long ties to many of these landscapes, said Bloch. “I’m sure they would have things to say, had they been asked for their opinion on it.”
Under President Trump, the Interior Department is actively trying to sell coal leases in Utah and in other western states right now, Bloch said. “They have been receiving several below-market bids for that coal and so there’s really not the sort of interest that the administration had hoped to find. I feel like where we sit we have to take the administration at its face value.”
They’re really moving heaven and earth to make more land available for coal leasing and development right outside many of the national parks and monuments, he said. “We just can’t sleep on that threat, so we’re going to remain vigilant.”