Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Patagonia Launches Campaign to Defend Bears Ears from Utah Politicians
atagonia isn’t done in its fight with Utah politicians. The company
led the charge to leverage the economic impact of the Outdoor Retailer
trade show, which has long been held in Salt Lake City, to try to change
the stance of Utah politicians towards public lands in general, and the
newly-designated Bears Ears National Monument in particular. That
effort failed, and the organizers of the trade show are pulling up stakes in Utah after this summer. But OR's departure doesn't mean that Patagonia is ready to leave Utah politicians alone. This morning they are launching a campaign to flood Utah Governor Gary Herbert's office with comments in favor of Bears Ears National Monument. The company is using Phone2Action,
a site that allows organizations to connect supporters with elected
officials. The company will use Facebook and Twitter to share a
Phone2Action link which will supply followers with a brief set of
talking points and then patch their phone call directly into the
governor’s office. Patagonia hopes to generate thousands of calls from
Utah citizens with the effort. (Though it also hopes non-Utahns will
voice their support as well.) It’s not just Bears Ears that’s in jeopardy from Utah politicians, notes
Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario. On Friday, February 17, just days after
speaking with representatives from the Outdoor Industry Association in
an attempt to keep OR in Utah, Governor Herbert signed a resolution that urges President Trump to shrink the boundaries of 20-year old Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
"It's not surprising that he would double down by trying to lift
longstanding protections on Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument," says Marcario. "It sure is disappointing, and not just for
the outdoor companies driving an enormous economy in Utah based on
protected public lands, but for the 122,000 Utahns whose jobs largely depend on the very places Herbert denigrates."...more
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I think this is a great exemplar of the "old" and "new" West. Patagonia, based out of Ventura, California, started out as Great Pacific Iron Works manufacturing hardware needed by an emerging activity in the 1970s, rock climbing. At that time, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties were largely rural with ranching and agricultural interests. The company rapidly evolved into a upscale softgoods company offering "lifestyle" products, reflecting the changing culture of Southern California. The diaspora brought about by rising property values in Socal spread this culture throughout the West as equity refugees and the Malibu/West LA crowd sought the very environments whose end they had brought about.
Post a Comment