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The two key factors of (1) how local interests should be weighed in public land management and (2) the manner in which public land designation occurred have been overlooked in research on trust in federal land management agencies. The literature also tends to focus solely on direct relationships between various predictors of trust, rather than examining indirect relationships. Using survey data of Escalante, Utah, residents 10 years after designation of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (GSENM), and via mediation analysis, we find perceived power of local groups and perceptions of the manner of designation work through perceptions of the current GSENM decision-making process to affect trust in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The findings suggest that as participatory processes become more inclusive over time, it is possible that the scars from the manner of designation may be less prominent.
