Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard, Rose Marcario send letter to Ryan Zinke
Patagonia's founder and CEO ask Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to think like Teddy Roosevelt and conserve land.
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President Donald Trump’s demand for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review some national monuments within 120 days is “absurd,” Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard and CEO Rose Marcario wrote Thursday in a letter to Zinke.
“As you know, the process to establish a National Monument often takes years, if not decades,” the letter reads. “It involves significant study of the area of the proposed monument – including its ecological, cultural, archeological, economic and recreation value – and robust consultation with local communities and their elected representatives at every level. Given the unique and complex histories of each monument, there is simply no way to meaningfully review dozens of individual monuments in such a short period.”
Immediately following Trump’s signing of an executive order last week seeking review of monuments established within the past 20 years, Patagonia issued a statement saying they would sue the administration if Trump tried to rescind or alter any national monuments.
In a press conference on Wednesday, leaders of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition also said they would take the U.S. government to court over Bears Ears if necessary.
“As you visit these protected places and report back to the president, I urge you to follow in the tradition of President Teddy Roosevelt and conserve our shared public lands for future generations,” Marcario and Chouinard wrote in their letter to Zinke.
Read Chouinard and Marcario’s letter to Zinke in full here.
