Logan Stefanich is a reporter with KSL.com, covering southern Utah communities, education, business and tech news.
SALT LAKE CITY — President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" has cleared the way for 48,000 acres of previously off-limits Utah public land to be available for coal leasing. Utah 's portion is part of over 13 million acres of land across the U.
S. made available for coal leasing, according to a September announcement from the Department of the Interior."President Trump promised to put American energy workers first, and today we're delivering," Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, said in a statement. "By reducing the royalty rate for coal, increasing coal acres available for leasing and unlocking critical minerals from mine waste, we are strengthening our economy, protecting national security and ensuring that communities from Montana to Alabama benefit from good-paying jobs. Washington doesn't build prosperity; American workers and entrepreneurs do, and we're giving them the tools to succeed."However, much of Utah's newly available land is situated near national parks and monuments, which has drawn ire from groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other conservation organizations.Specifically, parcels available for leasing are directly adjacent to or near Zion, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument."The Trump administration views southern Utah's remarkable red-rock country as just another place to exploit and plunder as they promote new coal mining. Nothing could be further from the truth. America's national parks, national monuments and wild public lands don't deserve this fate, and we'll work tirelessly to stop it from happening," Steve Bloch, legal director with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement. A map shows areas that have been made available for coal leasing. Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase-EscalanteA nearly 12,000-acre parcel in Utah, available for lease, is situated along the western side of Grand Staircase-Escalante and to the south of Bryce Canyon, with another parcel located on a section of public land between the two.If coal leasing and development were to move forward, the alliance said impacts would likely be visible from the Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive and its array of overlooks in the southern portion of the national park.It could also impact the local waterways."The potential coal mining lease on the northwestern border with Grand S
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