In an open letter, Alex Boian, VP of government affairs & OIAPAC treasurer, Outdoor Industry Association, issued a call to action in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 13792 that calls for a review of 27 national monuments designated since January 1996.

The full letter follows:

INTERIOR SECRETARY ZINKE’S RECOMMENDATION TO PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD “MAKE OR BREAK” OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS

President Trump’s Executive Order 13792 issued on April 26 directs the U.S. Department of the Interior to review 27 national monuments designated since January 1996. Today, the Interior Department opened a public comment period to inform Secretary Zinke’s “recommendations for Presidential actions, legislative proposals, or other appropriate actions.”

Specifically, Secretary Zinke will be considering the following:

  • Whether a specific designation meets the requirements and objectives of the Antiquities Act and does not exceed the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected
  • Whether designated lands are appropriately classified as historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, [or] other objects of historic or scientific interest
  • The effects a designation has on multi-use policy on federal lands within the boundaries of the monument and those lands beyond the monument’s boundaries
  • The effects of a (monument) designation on the use and enjoyment of non-Federal lands within or beyond monument boundaries
  • Concerns of State, tribal, and local governments affected by a designation, including the economic development and fiscal condition of affected States, tribes, and localities
  • The availability of Federal resources to properly manage designated areas and anything else Secretary Zinke deems appropriate

Stated simply, 27 national monuments from Bears Ears in Utah to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona are threatened.

Here’s what YOU can do about it:

  1. Review this list of national monuments that are part of the Department of the Interior (DOI) review and therefore threatened.
  2. Send your comments to the DOI through the OIA Advocacy Center (comments will list you, not OIA as sender). PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY SUBMITTED COMMENTS WILL BE PART OF AN OFFICIAL RECORD.

**DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS ON BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT IS MAY 26, 2017**

**DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS ON ALL OTHER MONUMENTS IS JUNE 10, 2017**

YOU CAN COMBINE YOUR COMMENTS ON BEARS EARS WITH OTHER MONUMENTS INTO ONE SUBMISSION OR SUBMIT INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS FOR EACH MONUMENT.

We suggest that your comments make several points that Secretary Zinke should consider:

  1. The national monuments under review, specifically Bears Ears, Grand Staircase Escalante and several others, were designated after extensive local input and review.
  2. The national monuments under review have proven and demonstrable benefits to the surrounding communities, including economic benefits associated with outdoor recreation, travel and tourism.
  3. Net job loss due to monument designations is demonstrably false. In fact, monument designations have clearly resulted in net job gains in local communities.
  4. Protection of America’s public lands, including the national monuments under review, is critical to supporting 7.6 million American jobs that drive an $887 billion outdoor recreation economy. This should be an important consideration in your review.
  5. Revisions to already designated national monuments are a direct threat to the surrounding local economies and to the vitality of those communities, and also threaten the national outdoor recreation economy.  

Please send your comments in today and make sure the outdoor recreation economy and millions of American jobs are not jeopardized.

Please contact me with questions or comments.

Alex

Alexander Boian | Vice President of Government Affairs & OIAPAC Treasurer
OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (OIA)
2580 55th Street, Suite 101, Boulder, CO 80301
direct 303.327.3509 | mobile 720.480.3560
Follow: @AlexOIApolicy

Photo courtesy OIA