December 4, 2017
Salt Lake City, Utah- In response to Trump’s decision to shrink both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah, Greenpeace USA Climate Campaigner Diana Best said,
“By dramatically shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, Trump is doing the bidding of mining and drilling companies while disregarding both Indigenous rights and more than one million public comments, nearly 100 percent of which supported protection of these public lands. What could have been protected for generations to come now face the risk of becoming exploited wastelands, thanks to an Interior Department full of oil and gas errand-boys like Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt.
“The public response to the Trump administration’s review of nearly 30 public land and marine monuments broke records, and the sentiment that these lands and marine regions should remain protected was nearly unanimous. From Alaska to Utah, people should challenge this undemocratic move by the Trump administration and support Indigenous tribes that are preparing to go to court yet again to fight for what is theirs.”
Contact:
Cassady Craighill, [email protected], 828-817-3328
