WASHINGTON – The following may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall:
“Today’s reduction in the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments marks a return of common sense to environmental stewardship.
“The 1906 Antiquities Act was clear in its purpose, even if the government has not always been. It was designed to stop theft and destruction of archaeological sites and other federal lands of historic or scientific interest. The act requires the president to reserve ‘the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.’ Unfortunately, that law has been abused to quarantine millions of acres of already-scarce grazing land, harming farmers, ranchers and struggling small towns across the West.
“Other presidents have established and reduced the size of monuments. Presidents Taft, Wilson, Coolidge, Eisenhower and Kennedy all shrank the size of established monuments. Farm Bureau is pleased to see President Trump doing likewise at Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante. This is different from the previous administration, which created and expanded more new national monuments than any other in U.S. history, locking up 5.44 million acres of land and 545 million acres of water resources in the process.
“Rural America continues to struggle economically, even as large cities boom. We hope Congress will also move to improve accountability and transparency in the designation of national monuments so that we do not once again find ourselves at the mercy of a remote bureaucracy. With common sense public policies, we can preserve antiquities while providing prosperity and opportunity for rural America.”
OIA Policy Alert- Released Monday, December 4, 2017:
President Trump Announces Largest Reduction to Public Lands’ Protection in American History
President Trump traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah today and announced reduction and fracturing of Bears Ears National Monument by more than 80 percent, from 1.35 million acres to around 220,000 acres, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by roughly 45 percent, from nearly 1.9 million acres to just over 1 million acres. In total, more than two million acres of public lands will lose protection, the largest attack on public lands in American history.
Let your elected officials know that you oppose this decision.
Write a letter to your Senators and Representatives urging them to continue to protect America’s public lands
Tweet or call your elected officials, letting them know you oppose this decision
Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) opposes this action and released the following statement:
“Outdoor Industry Association and the outdoor industry view the announcement by President Trump as detrimental to the $887 billion outdoor recreation economy and the 7.6 million American jobs it supports. This decision is part of a long pattern of attacks against public lands and will harm hundreds of local Utah communities and businesses, will stifle millions of dollars in annual economic activity and threatens thousands of jobs in the region.
“Outdoor Industry Association will continue to educate the industry and all Americans about President Trump’s assault on our industry and our nation’s public lands, and we will continue to support the members of Congress who defend both and who understand the importance of the outdoor recreation economy to local communities.”
This decision ignores the support of monuments by the American people and the outdoor industry and includes the following facts:
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has a clearly demonstrable and proven recreation economy that developed because of its national monument status.
More than 360 executives who lead outdoor recreation companies which create jobs in communities across America, including in rural communities that President Trump promised to support during his campaign, oppose this action.
Over 3 million Americans wrote the administration in support of the preservation of America’s public lands.
Please let your representatives in Congress know what you think of the president’s decision.
Thank you for everything you do to help protect our public lands,
(Signed)
Amy Roberts
Amy Roberts | Executive Director
OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (OIA)
2580 55th Street, Suite 101, Boulder, CO 80301 USA
main 303.444.3353
