Time is of the Essence

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If I visited Grand Staircase Escalante, I would discover that time is of the essence. The long crawl upward begins at the Colorado River and continues through Zion National Park and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument to terminate at Bryce Canyon National Park. The steps are a progression of geologic history.
The endangered desert tortoise is at home here, as is the banded kingsnake and the peregrine falcon. Don't step on a rattlesnake. Pictographs and petroglyphs abound, showing a long human history here.
Our President has stripped away 90 %  of the land protected in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, given “forever” protection by President Bill Clinton. He says he “gave it back to the American People,” but he actually gave it to uranium miners, oil companies, and other business interests. Since it was public land, we could visit at any time.
He also stripped away land protected by the  Bears Ears National Monument given “forever” protection by President Barack Obama. Our President did this ripping away during his previous term of office, but President Joe Biden restored the protection. Now, our President has ripped it away again.
The protection, stripping away, and restoration were all done with executive orders, since designating National Monuments is a Presidential Power. The five Native American tribes who regard these monuments as sacred land had petitioned for their protection for decades.
These are the names of the five Federally Recognized Tribes as rendered on their tribal governments' official seals. Say their names out loud:
The Navajo Nation
The Hopi Tribe
The Ute Indian Tribe
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
The Zuni Tribe
They would likely have preferred National Park status, which is a higher level of protection, but requires an act of Congress. Our Congress was unwilling to act, knowing it would cost them numerous campaign contributions.
Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes envisioned a large swath of the land protected as a national park. He was the longest serving Secretary of the Interior, having performed the duties from 1933 through 1946. Canyonlands National Park is a small remnant of his dream. Terry Tempest Williams told that story in her book Erosion.
I hear that our President does not want us to use the word Indigenous, nor should we mention the theft of Native lands, despite the appearance of the word “theft” in a 1980 Supreme Court decision regarding the Black Hills. The Lakota People won the case but have never accepted payment. I suspect that the land is more valuable to them than money, an idea alien to our money driven society.

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Here are some references for those who want to know more.
A story about the history of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante appears in the book, Erosion by Terry Tepest Williams. This is where I first read of Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes.
The seals of the five nations seeking to protect Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante appears on the Bears Ears Coalition website.
Wikipedia has a page devoted to the story of Harold Ickes, as does the website of the US Park Service.

Watercolor LadybugSolace in Rain Listen to the rain it taps on my window like a horse's hooves pounding across a meadow. It stops when spooked by a deer or a gust of wind Listen to the rain insistent as a beaver's teeth bringing down an anicnt beech. I heard that awful chewing once, the creature heard before seen on the banks of Lookout Creek. List…