Six takeaways from the BENM and GSENM proclamations

Biden cracks the door to a grazing phaseout in both monuments

A monarch butterfly in one of the few areas off-limits to grazing in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Jonathan P. Thompson photo, 2019.

At first glance, President Biden’s restoration of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments appeared to be just that: He merely turned back the clock to a pre-Trump time, when the monum…