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A few years after the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated in 1996, Blake Spalding and Jen Castle set up a restaurant in the ranching hamlet of Boulder on the monument's northern periphery.
Naming the business after one of the area's stunning geological features, they hoped to capture some of the tourists cruising through on State Route 12.
Today, Hell's Backbone Grill and Farm is world famous, supports a payroll of $700,000 and employs four full-time farmers to provide Spalding's kitchen with 23,000 pounds a year of local fruits and vegetables. All the beef and lamb they serve is raised on a Boulder ranch.
The restaurateurs are now part of growing chorus of Garfield and Kane county business owners challenging what they say is a phony narrative pushed by Utah's political leaders to justify shrinking the monument and rescinding the new Bears Ears National Monument.
"We pour so much into the tax rolls and yet they ignore us. That's painful," Spalding said Wednesday at a news conference at the state Capitol hosted by the Escalante Chamber of Commerce. Business leaders met with Gov. Gary Herbert to counter claims by Garfield County leaders that the national monument is sapping the economic vitality of rural communities.
Spalding invited new Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, whom the Senate confirmed Wednesday, to dine at Hell's Backbone and see for himself the economic surge unfolding in Boulder and along Escalante's Main Street.
Before the monument was created, State Route 12 passed by several boarded-up storefronts that are now housing thriving businesses, according to Keith Watts, founder of Earth Tours guiding service.
During his confirmation hearings, Zinke, a Montana congressman, pledged to come to southern Utah to evaluate the monument designations.
County commissioners and Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, describe cultural decline, job losses and displaced families caused by federal mismanagement of public land. President Bill Clinton's surprise Staircase designation derailed a vibrant movie industry, two proposed coal mines, public access and multiple uses of these lands, Noel contends.
He sponsored HCR12 calling on the Department of the Interior to explore reducing the size of the monument by as much as three-fourths. The Kane County Commission has passed an identical resolution and the Garfield County Commission will hold a public hearing on a similar one March 13.
Commissioners complain that tourism businesses don't support families because the pay is low and the work is seasonal.
But Spalding said she paid a living wage to the 72 people who worked for her farm and restaurant last year. Many of her employees come from Boulder, she said. And others who moved to Boulder are staying and having babies.
"They are falling in love after working together in the restaurant. It's very sweet," Spalding said. "Our values are about people, about place and about community."
Scott Berry, co-founder of the Boulder Mountain Lodge, attributes this economic activity to the monument, which communicates to the world that the area's desert lands are filled with canyons, mesas and other wonders that can be explored in relative solitude.
"Our visitors come from all over Utah, the nation and the world. What they tell me is that's the most amazing drive they have ever taken," said Berry. "They are pleased to have done it and come to a facility like ours. We have seen our business grow and grow and help other businesses get started. It's a story that is not often heard in the Capitol. We see the monument as a call to start a new garden and after 20 years we are seeing those shoots come up."
Brian Maffly covers public lands for The Salt Lake Tribune. Brian Maffly can be reached at bmaffly@sltrib.com or 801-257-8713.
Twitter: @brianmaffly