Ad Challenges Interior Secretary Zinke to Protect Public Lands

Hunters, anglers and conservation groups are running full-page ads in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News to send a message to U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is scheduled to speak Friday in Salt Lake City. Tracy Stone-Manning, associate vice president for public lands with the National Wildlife Federation, is troubled by recent Department of the Interior decisions, including undoing master leasing plans for development on public lands. She says extraction can coexist with other activities, but it takes careful planning and input from local communities. "And our concern is that we're losing those tools to do energy development right,” she says. “So, this is sportsmen and women saying, 'These are really important places to us, that we have to leave as is for future generations.'" The ad includes the tag line, "Protect the land and you protect everything that comes with it."...more