Interior chief says it’s a lie that Trump ‘stole’ public’s land
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday accused outdoor retailer Patagonia of lying when it said that President Donald Trump “stole your land” by shrinking two national monuments in Utah by some 2 million acres.
An angry Zinke called the claim — made in large type on the company’s home page — “nefarious, false and a lie.”
Zinke told reporters the land targeted by Trump remains protected because it is still under federal control.
“I understand fundraising for these special interest groups,” Zinke said. “I think it’s shameful and appalling that they would blatantly lie in order to gain money in their coffers.”
Patagonia replaced its usual home page Monday night with a stark message declaring, “The President Stole Your Land.” The message called Trump’s actions to shrink Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments “illegal” and the largest elimination of protected land in American history.
Outdoor retailer REI also criticized Trump but in less harsh language.
Zinke took a defiant tone in a conference call with reporters, saying: “I don’t yield to pressure, only higher principle. And sound public policy is not based on threats of lawsuits, it’s doing what’s right.”
‘Our special interest’
Patagonia has “always viewed public lands as our special interest,” company spokeswoman Corley Kenna said. “And it’s odd that Ryan Zinke has no problem with special interests when they’re paying for his private jets. We have been fighting for these lands for decades, so that hunters, fishers, hikers and everyone else can use them and help us protect them.”
Patagonia has joined a lawsuit challenging the Bears Ears decision and joined with REI and other outdoor recreation companies in leading a push to move the industry’s lucrative trade show from Salt Lake City to Denver after two decades in Utah. The move was a high-profile protest over Utah leaders’ insistence on getting the Bears Ears designation rescinded and trying to take more control of federal lands.
Zinke argued that Bears Ears is still larger than Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks combined even after being downsized to about 202,000 acres, while Grand StaircaseEscalante retains about 1 million acres.
Environmental and conservation groups and a coalition of tribes filed lawsuits Monday that ensure Trump’s announcement is far from the final word in the yearslong battle over public lands in Utah and other Western states. The court cases are likely to drag on for years.
Other monuments
Trump acted on a recommendation by Zinke, who also has urged that two other large national monuments in the West be reduced in size, potentially opening up thousands of acres of land revered for natural beauty and historical significance to mining, logging and other development.
The secretary’s plan would scale back Nevada’s Gold Butte and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou, in addition to the two Utah sites.
Zinke also has recommended allowing logging at a newly designated monument in Maine, and urged more grazing, hunting and fishing at two sites in New Mexico. He also called for a new assessment of bordersafety risks at a monument in southern New Mexico.