Protect Utah’s monuments for #NationalPublicLandsDay

With so many other big issues in the limelight, let’s not forget about National Monuments. Secretary Zinke’s report on his monuments review threatens to dramatically reduce Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears along with four other monuments, ignoring the wishes of a majority of Utahns, 99.2% of public comments on the review and a wide range of Americans who support our monuments from across the country, including faith leaders, veterans, archaeologists, historians, tribes, business owners, tourists, hunters and outdoor recreationalists from both sides of the aisle.

Action Utah member Kate Ferguson made her voice heard by publishing this terrific letter to the editor in the Salt Lake Tribune. You can speak up about public lands too. National Public Lands Day is Sunday, September 24th. Here are 3 things you can do today, Sunday and any day to keep protection of national monuments in the spotlight.

CALL TO ACTION

• Tweet @SecretaryZinke and @realDonaldTrump and ask them to celebrate #NationalPublicLandsDay by keeping our lands public instead of reducing Utah’s national monuments and opening them up to development and privatization. Include pictures of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase to show the world what could be lost to dramatic boundary changes unwanted by most Utahns.
• Sign petitions. Sign this petition to Congress to save Utah’s Red Cliffs Conservation Area from fossil fuel development, this petition to Secretary Zinke and the Department of the Interior to protect monuments for all, and this petition to the Department of the Interior to preserve Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument just the way it is.
• Post and share these great media pieces on Grand Staircase and Bears Ears to remind decision-makers that a majority of Utahns and a broad array of Americans from across the country want to see Utah’s national monuments kept just as they are. Tag @SecretaryRyan Zinke on Facebook and @SecretaryZinke on Twitter.
  • Salt Lake Tribune editorial: “Zinke’s report leaves a monumental mess“
  • The Mercury News (San Jose) editorial: “Why Trump Should Leave Monuments Alone“
  • Daily Post (Los Alamos): “Military Leaders From All Branches, Including SEALs, Special Forces, Ask Zinke To Protect Public Lands“
  • Salt Lake Tribune letter: “Why put coal mining above everything else?“
  • Outside: “Trump Will Have a Hard Time Shrinking the Monuments“
  • National Geographic: “See the Wild Places That May Lose Protections as National Monuments“
  • Monuments For All video: “Utah Businesses Depend on Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument“
  • Monuments For All video: “Stand With Bears Ears“