REI asks customers to challenge Zinke over public lands review

National outdoor retailer REI is urging its customers to challenge Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke over proposed plans to review what public lands will continue to receive monument classification and federal funding. In an email campaign sent to customers Thursday, REI -- which stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc. -- explained to buyers that they are the "public in public lands" and asked them to "tell Secretary Ryan Zinke why our public lands need to remain protected now and for future generations." "Our country's public lands define who we are. These are the places where we work, where we play and where we connect to our shared history -- and today, some of these places are in jeopardy," the note read. The email laid out the 27 national monuments currently being re-considered for federal recognition and included a link to an REI website with a comment form to be sent directly to the federal department. The email comes days before the public comment period is set to close for Utah's Bears Ears National Monument, which is on Interior's chopping block. Bears Ears is a 1.3-million-acre parcel of land that includes world-class rock climbing, age-old cliff dwellings and land sacred to Pueblo Indians that then-President Barack Obama designated a monument in 2016...more