Grand Staircase-Escalante Symposium 2025
Ways of Understanding and Protecting Land and Water Resources in the Grand Staircase-Escalante Region March 20-22, 2025
Location: Interagency Visitor Center, 755 W. Main St., Escalante, UT
Purpose
Bring together land managers, Tribes, researchers, conservation groups and interested public to gain knowledge and discuss multiple perspectives on land and water, ecosystem management issues, and ways people engage with the landscape.
Geographic Focus
The landscape of the Grand Staircase-Escalante region, from the high plateaus of the Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park down through the benchlands, valleys and canyons of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Agenda
Link to PDF version
Day 1 (Thursday, March 20)
8:30 AM | Book Swap
Leave a book (or several), take a book! This is your opportunity to mingle and share your favorite reading with other Symposium attendees.
9:00 AM | Welcome
- Kevin Berend (Escalante River Watershed Partnership)
- The Beauty of Land & Water – Max Early
9:15 AM | Ways of Knowing
- Native Science & Sovereignty – Dr. Gregory Cajete (University of New Mexico; Santa Clara Pueblo)
- Planting seeds of hope, chili stew, and buffalo dance – John Naranjo (National Wildlife Federation)
- Seven types of science opportunities in the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System – Fritz Klasner (Bureau of Land Management)
- Monitoring wilderness character at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument – Kevin Berend (Grand Staircase Escalante Partners)
- Science and citizen engagement – Marc Coles-Ritchie (Bureau of Land Management)
11:00 AM | Riparian Recovery
- Response of the Escalante River to the invasion and treatment of Russian olive – Mike Scott (US Geological Survey, retired)
- Looking back at the ribbon of green: 50 years of repeat photography in the Escalante watershed – Katelyn Woodward (Western Colorado University)
- Ecological succession in Glen Canyon as Lake Powell dries: Rapid native riparian ecosystems establishment and dynamic changes – Seth Arens (Western Water Assessment)
- The evolution of invasive species detection using remote sensing in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument – Truman Anarella (Colorado State University)
Lunch
1:30 PM | Wetlands Management
- Comparing water use in Russian olive and Fremont cottonwood – Rebecca Senft (University of Utah)
- Big Lake Lythrum salacaria Mitigation Project, 2018-2022 – Jordan Moody (Best Friends Animal Sanctuary)
- Badger Springs – Russian Olive and Tamarisk Removal Project – Max Taylor (Hopi Tribe)
- Stump Springs fencing project: A model for Tribal co-stewardship on public lands – Georgie Pongyesva (Hopi Tribe)
3:00 PM | Physical Science
- Dinosaur Frontier: What was happening in our neighborhood before the Late Cretaceous – Christa Sadler (Paleontologist/Geologist)
- Preserving the night sky from light pollution – Colin Littlefield (Stellar Vista Observatory)
- Fire on the land: Exploring the past to inform the present – Stanley G. Kitchen (US Forest Service, retired)
- Flash floods across southwestern Utah during the summer monsoon – John D. Horel (University of Utah)
4:30 PM | Closing
- The Beauty of Land and Water – Max Early
Dinner
7:00 PM | Film Screening
Join us for a screening of three short films about Native sovereignty, public lands, and human connection to nature. Followed by discussion.
Hosted by Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, 530 W. Main St.
Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Day 2 (Friday, March 21)
8:30 AM | Book Swap
Leave a book (or several), take a book! This is your opportunity to mingle and share your favorite reading with other Symposium attendees.
9:00 AM | Welcome
- Richard Graymountain (San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe)
9:15 AM | Art & Social Science
- Stargazing, spending, and stewardship: Park visitors’ perspectives on dark sky conservation from across Utah – Jordan W. Smith (Utah State University)
- Hopi food and cultural practices – Evvy Trujillo (Hopi Tribe)
- The Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program: A united front protecting Utah’s heritage – Ian Wright (Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program)
- Understanding and protecting land through photography – Christina Selby (conservation photographer)
- On the trail of Neil M. Judd – Harry Barber (Bureau of Land Management)
11:00 AM | Bryce Canyon Biodiversity
- Discovering neglected lichen diversity with DNA-based inventories in Bryce Canyon NP – Steve Leavitt (Brigham Young University)
- Evaluation of a new plague management method for Utah prairie dogs – Barbara Sugarman (Utah Department of Wildlife Resources)
11:30 AM | Wildlife
- Aquatic invertebrate and bat community analysis at an isolated spring in Garfield County, Utah – Geoff Smith (Utah Tech University)
- Retrofitting and removing fences on the Paunsaugunt Plateau: Improving mule deer habitat connectivity in Grand Staircase-Escalante NM – Kasey Lindstrom (Wildlands Network)
Lunch
1:00 PM | Field Trips and Workshops (sign up below)
Ethnobotany walk (sign up here): Learn the identity and uses of native plants from expert botanists. 15 min drive. Meet at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center. Led by Max Taylor and Marc Coles-Ritchie
Stump Spring fence project (sign up here): Visit a spring that was fenced during a restoration project completed by Hopi and GSEP in 2024. 15 min drive. Meet at Escalante Interagency Visitor Center. Led by Georgie Pongyesva & Lauren Nickell
Food and cultural practices of a Hopi woman (sign up here): Meet at Escalante Showhouse, 50 W. Main St. Led by Evvy Trujillo
Basketry workshop (day 1, limit 10 participants, sign up here): Make a traditional San Juan Southern Paiute basket. Supplies provided. Meet at GSEP office, 530 W. Main St. Led by Richard Graymountain
7:00 PM | Astronomy of Grand Staircase-Escalante
View and learn about planets, stars, nebulae, and other astronomical objects in the night sky. Telescopes provided. Bring binoculars if you have them, and dress warm. Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners office, 530 W. Main St. Led by Colin Littlefield
Day 3 (Saturday, March 22)
9:00 AM | Field Trips and Workshops (sign up below)
Woody invasive species of the Paria River (sign up here): Learn about NASA satellite monitoring of Russian olive and tamarisk during a hike through the beautiful and remote Paria River. Meet at Escalante Interagency Visitor Center. 1 hour drive. Full day. Led by Christa Sadler & Truman Anarella
Fire history & ecology (sign up here): Learn about the history of fire in the Upper Valley of Dixie National Forest, and its interactions with geology, soils, vegetation, and land management. Meet at Escalante Interagency Visitor Center. 15 min drive. Half day. Led by Brian Van Winkle
Stream ecology (sign up here): Learn about riparian ecology of the Escalante River and Calf Creek. Meet at Escalante Interagency Visitor Center. 15 min drive. Half day. Led by Marc Coles-Ritchie & Katelyn Woodward
Pottery workshop (limit 10 participants, sign up here): Paint and fire your own pottery shards in traditional Laguna Pueblo style. Materials provided. Meet at Escalante Showhouse, 50 W. Main St. Half day. Led by Max Early
Basketry workshop (day 2, limit 10 participants, sign up here): Make a traditional San Juan Southern Paiute basket. Materials provided. Meet at GSEP office, 530 W. Main St. Half day. Led by Richard Graymountain
