Abstract
National parks have been called “America’s best idea”, but their creation and management never fail to stir controversy. On September 12, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill creating Canyonlands National Park (CANY). Instead of a preservation climax, however, the establishment of CANY simply opened a new chapter in the long-term effort to protect a much greater percentage of southeastern Utah’s canyon country. Over the next several decades, park enthusiasts and wilderness advocates sought to expand the boundaries of CANY, while agricultural interests and extractive industries lobbied vigorously to limit the influence of the National Park Service. In this paper, we use archival data and methods to reconstruct the story of CANY’s creation and review attempts since then to extend protections beyond the original park’s borders, seeking to understand the different social, political, and economic forces that aligned to propose—as well as the forces that rallied to contest—these expansion efforts. While our findings indicate that the stakeholders involved and the issues that drive them have changed little over the past sixty years, we also cite several examples of successful collaboration that could serve as guideposts for future conservation efforts, both in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Highlights
On 28 March 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prioritizing fossil fuel extraction on public lands in the U.S Among other things, the order rolled back efforts by the previous administration to combat climate change, lifted the ban on federal leasing of land for the production of coal, and removed restrictions on oil, natural gas, and shale exploration
National Park Service (NPS) officials were concerned about the impact that nearby mineral extraction might have on Canyonlands National Park (CANY) and its environs
We focus on the events leading up to the establishment of Canyonlands National Park in 1964
Summary
On 28 March 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prioritizing fossil fuel extraction on public lands in the U.S Among other things, the order rolled back efforts by the previous administration to combat climate change, lifted the ban on federal leasing of land for the production of coal, and removed restrictions on oil, natural gas, and shale exploration. 2020, 9, 179 nearby national monuments—maintained that development of the parcels in question would adversely affect ‘air quality, dark night sky, scenic value, soundscapes and groundwater quality important to all the parks in the Southeast Utah Group’ (Schmieding 2008; Cannon 2017). Sci. 2020, 9, 179 nearby national monuments—maintained that development of the parcels in question would adversely affect ‘air quality, dark night sky, scenic value, soundscapes and groundwater quality important to all the parks in the Southeast Utah Group’ (Schmieding 2008; Cannon 2017) She argued, the BLM did not address the possibility of earthquakes that could result from drilling and fracking activities, and the damage they could inflict on cultural sites and prehistoric structures (Cannon 2017). While our findings indicate that the stakeholders involved and the issues that drive them have changed little over the past sixty years, we cite several examples of successful collaboration that could serve as guideposts for future conservation efforts, both in the U.S and elsewhere
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
