Patagonia calls out "lies"
You have two weeks to weigh in on land management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
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On Thursday, Patagonia’s homepage slideshow featured pictures of a surfer riding a wave, the new micro puff, a dam, and other colorful scenes. By the end of the day, another, more stark image had been added to the mix.
The black screen is back, with a new message this time: “The President Stole Your Land and You Were Lied To.”
Patagonia says its specifically referring to what they and the public have learned since President Donald Trump shrunk Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in December — that it’s always been about the oil, coal, gas, and uranium within the boundaries of the precious places.
The screen links to a blog post by Lisa Pike Sheehy, vice president of environmental activism for Patagonia. She goes into detail about how the cut was “nothing more than a political favor” and “deliberate, and directly influenced” by the energy industry through millions of lobbying dollars.
Patagonia breaks down what the extractive industry wants by the numbers:
- 90,000 acres of new oil and gas leases that the industry has expressed interest in along the eastern boundary of the original Bears Ears
- 500,000 tons of uranium produced over the next 20 years in and around Bears Ears, if new permits and expansions are allowed
- 11.4 billion tons of recoverable coal in the Kaiparowits Plateau, in the heart of Grand Staircase-Escalante — the biggest coalfield in Utah and in the country
Patagonia has sued the Trump Administration for redrawing the boundaries.
The company is urging that people remind elected officials that public lands should be protected by speaking up and voting in November.
It has been criticized in the past for its messages. Congressman Rob Bishop, the representative for Utah’s First District, said that the previous message — “The President Stole Your Land” — was a PR campaign and a lie.
The Bureau of Land Management held four meetings for the public to weigh in on land management plans with the last on Thursday. People can submit comments for the next two weeks.
Comments on the Bears Ears plan are due by April 11 through the project ePlanning page, mailed to P.O. Box 7, Monticello, UT 84535, or emailed to blm_ut_monticello_monuments@blm.gov.
Comments on the Grand Staircase plan are due by April 13 through the project ePlanning page, mailed to 669 S. U.S. 89A, Kanab, UT 84741, or emailed to BLM_UT_CCD_monuments@blm.gov.
