Study: Shrinking national monuments could cost hundreds of jobs

While rural Utah leaders have long derided national monument designations as an unacceptable drag on their area economies, a new study by a nonpartisan think tank indicates that large monuments, including Grand Staircase-Escalante, on balance, have helped drive economic activity in adjacent communities.And, it warns, reducing them in size, as has happened in Utah, could cost hundreds of jobs.These are the findings of Resources for the Future, a long-established nonpartisan organization, based in