Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and more than 100 outdoor recreation related businesses will send a letter to President Obama on Tuesday, Nov. 13, urging him to protect Greater Canyonlands, the 1.4 million acre region of publicly-owned wildlands surrounding Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah as a national monument.
The list of signers includes nationally known brands: Patagonia, Camelbak, Eastern Mountain Sports, and prAna, as well as locally owned businesses in Utah such as Rim Tours, Moab Cliffs and Canyons and Canyon Voyages Adventure Company.
The Greater Canyonlands area is a landscape of plateaus, stunning geologic formations, 10,000 year-old archeological sites, and unmatched natural beauty including iconic Utah landmarks such as Labyrinth Canyon, Indian Creek, White Canyon, Fiddler Butte, Robbers Roost, Lockhart Basin and the Dirty Devil River. The area, encompassing 1.4 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) land surrounding Canyonlands National Park, is under increasing pressure from rampant off-road vehicle abuse, proposed uranium, potash and tar sand mining, and oil and gas development.
In the letter to President Obama, the business leaders write: “The future of our outdoor recreation economy depends on protecting iconic landscapes such as Greater Canyonlands where people go to recreate. And monument proclamation is an important and effective way to provide the protection that is needed.”
The Outdoor Industry Association is the leading voice of the outdoor industry and serves more than 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers. OIA works with its members to benefit the industry by advocating for issues critical to the future of the outdoor industry and preserving, promoting and raising industry standards.
