Washington • As President Donald Trump geared up to slash millions of acres from national monuments in Utah, career Bureau of Land Management officials were touting the importance of the designations to protect the land and its economic boom to the area, internal documents show.
“In the 20 years since Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated, a wealth of scientific knowledge has been discovered, with significant archaeological, paleontological, biological, ecological and geological discoveries on the monument,” BLM assistant field manager Allison Ginn emailed the Utah BLM staff in May 2017. “The Kaiparowits Plateau contains a plethora of paleontological specimens — 12 new dinosaur species have been discovered since designation.