Earlier this year the Salt Lake economy lost an estimated $45 million when the Outdoor Retailer show took its business elsewhere in protest of Utah politicians’ opposition to national monuments. In spite of the obvious costs, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has responded enthusiastically to calls by Utah’s governor and congressional delegation to gut protections for public lands in places like the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante.
So it was a little rich to see David Bernhardt, Zinke’s right-hand man, recently write in defense of the outdoor economy in this newspaper. It was unsurprising, however, that Zinke himself didn’t want to be the public owner of such rank hypocrisy. His review of national monuments has been secretive from the beginning and was only made public through a leak to the press.
Places like Grand Staircase-Escalante are cornerstones of Utah’s tourism and recreation industry. A recent study by Headwaters Economics found that in the area jobs have grown by 24 percent, real per-capita income has grown by 17 percent and real personal income has grown by 32 percent.
Those benefits are only possible because Grand Staircase is a great place to visit thanks to protections to its land and water. By asking the president to diminish these monuments, Secretary Zinke is asking to shrink the economy and kill jobs. Utah’s economy and people simply can’t afford any more anti-public lands policies from politicians in Washington, D.C.
Chris Saeger
Executive Director, Western Values Project, Whitefish, Mont.