Yvon Chouinard explains his Bears Ears bugbear
10/03/2017
Utah governor, Gary Herbert, proposes that the state, rather than the US public as a whole, should have ownership of the lands. One of the consequences of the controversy is that a number of prominent outdoor brands have said they will not return to the Outdoor Retailer exhibitions while Utah remains the venue; Patagonia was the first to withdraw.
In a column he wrote for the Los Angeles Times on March 9, Yvon Chouinard said he believes one of the motivations for politicians who seek to take public lands into state ownership is that it then becomes easier to open up those areas to oil companies. He wrote: “Selling public lands has been item number-one on Big Oil’s agenda for a long time. It’s a theft of valuable property owned by all of us.”
He went on to argue that public lands “perform best” economically when they are preserved for recreation and said the outdoor industry, partly through being able to encourage people to use public lands for running, hiking, cycling, climbing, kayaking and a wide range of other actitives, supports more jobs (6.1 million) than oil, natural gas and mining combined. Mr Chouinard also pointed out that US consumers spend more on outdoor recreation annually, $646 billion, than on electronics, pharmaceuticals or cars.
But he warned that tensions among those who want to keep public lands in public ownership, for example between hunters and environmentalists, could detract from the effectiveness of campaigns to halt plans such as those of Governor Herbert. “We need to work together to protect our public lands,” Mr Chouinard said. “We all value access to wild places where our air, water and wildlife are safe from pollution and development.”
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