Patagonia and Black Diamond views on public land

In open letters addressed to Utah’s Gov. Gary Herbert, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and Black Diamond founder Peter Metcalf address the state’s public land debacle, urging Gov. Herbert to protect the public land crucial to the outdoor industry. If not, Chouinard and Metcaff threatened to move the semi-annual Outdoor Retailer Winter and Summer Market (ORWSM) trade show – a show that grosses $40 million in revenue for Utah’s economy twice each year – out of state.

“Every year, outdoor recreation in Utah drives $12 million in consumer spending and supports 122,000 jobs across the state,” writes Chouinard. “Sure, we use these lands for energy and grazing and other things too. But access to the outdoors is the reason why so many of my friends consider Utah the ultimate place to live.”

While the Outdoor Industry Association and Emerald Expositions are, ultimately, in charge of running the ORWSM show (and the show is contracted to run in Salt Lake City, UT through 2018), both organizations have said that they support Chouinard’s and Metcaff’s opinions and hope that they won’t have to take the show elsewhere. As the public land fiasco continues, outdoor leaders like Chouinard and Metcaff will hopefully be able to use their clout and influence to sway legislators to listen. In fact, this may only be the beginning of another round of public objection against the public lands transfer.

“Utah’s political leadership has unleashed an all-out assault against Utah’s protected public lands and Utah’s newest monument,” Metcalf wrote in an opinion piece published in the Salt Lake Tribune last week. The monument mentioned is the new 1.4 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument created by President Obama last month, which Gov. Herbert tried to challenge, according to The Guardian.

Both letters point to Utah legislators’ support of transferring or selling federal lands to the state – an issue that previously gained outward protests from hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. A transfer of land in this magnitude would interrupt public access and open up the land to more oil and gas development, resulting in a disruption of wildlife and air and water quality concerns.

According to SGB Media, the Utah Deputy Chief of Staff Paul Edwards released the following statement in response to the letters: “There is no all-out-assault against Utah’s public lands. Gov. Herbert has been clear that Utah is, always has been, and always will be a public lands state. What concerns Gov. Herbert is the process that has been used to make public lands decisions.”

Yet, Chouinard doesn’t believe that’s the case, writing, “Gov. Gary Herbert and his buddies have spent years denigrating our public lands, the backbone of our business, and trying to sell them off to the highest bidder. He’s created a hostile environment that puts our industry at risk.”

With Chouinard and Metcaff speaking out against this public land grab, it will be interesting to see who will be next in voicing their dissent against the issue.