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History Of Downsizing The Grand National Staircase

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Recently there has been much controversy in Garfield county due to talk of downsizing the grand national staircase. One of, if not the, most visited sites in Escalante, Utah Is the Grand Staircase National Monument. Stretching, right now, at about 1.9 million acres, the monument consists of beautiful slot canyons, national parks, and multiple lakes and/or rivers. With Utah being known for its national parks and beautiful scenery there is a lot of commotion being brought up with this new resolution to downsize. Named as resolution, HCR 12, county commissioners argue that the lack of space is destroying the industry and economic livelihood of Garfield county. Utah citizens disagree, and many argue that the cost of reducing the land size will …show more content…

Not only is Utah HCR 12, effecting the citizens of Garfield county, people from all over the world are posting on social media, emailing, petitioning, and blogging with strong feelings towards this topic. Peter Scott wrote a petition to Governor Gary Herbert, stating that the concurrent resolution, “is an illogical assault on one of the crown jewels of Americas National Monument… The overall investments in the communities of the Garfield county since 1996 have been directly connected to the designation of the Monument” (Thepetitionsite.com). Agreeing with Peter, citizens against HCR 12 argue that the monument brings in millions of dollars in tourism each year, and by decreasing the size will, in turn, do more harm to the economy than good. Petitioners argue that there is no comparative advantage to building here as opposed somewhere else. These people believe the benefits from unemployment decreasing if the resolution passes, are not enough for the opportunities lost. Unemployment The main reason that commissioners are arguing for the resolution to pass is due to the amount of employment opportunities that it will bring to Garfield county. By using that land of the Grand National Staircase, more buildings and businesses can be built therefor, increasing the job supply, economy, and industry. The unemployment rate will decrease as job opportunities increase and the economy will boom. All three types of unemployment, frictional,

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