Bears Ears National Monument - Tim Peterson
This blog series will explore Secretary Zinke’s systematic efforts to undermine protections for public lands and sell out wild places to dirty fuel interests. Zinke must not be allowed to hide behind his horse, but must face the full opposition of the American public. Read part 2 here.
From the time of his inauguration, Donald Trump and his administration’s relationship with our country’s public lands has been adversarial to say the least. The blatant disregard for the value of these shared places (beyond what can be pocketed by fossil fuel giants, of course) has thrust us back to the era of oil barons and titans of industry, “self-made” on the backs of public resources. Early in the administration, the main photo on the Department of the Interior (DOI) webpage was changed from one of people recreating in natural wonder to a giant coal seam being mined. That pretty much sums it up for this DOI.
It’s a view Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has fully embraced, despite his cowboy trappings, and he’s worked hard to turn it into a reality. Under his leadership, America has seen the largest rollback of public lands protections in our history -- and it’s not over yet. Based on Zinke’s recommendations, protections for Bears Ears National Monument have been essentially (and illegally) eliminated and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument has been cut by almost half. As a result, thousands of irreplaceable artifacts are at risk of being looted, cultural treasures could be destroyed, and important progress toward inclusivity in our public lands has been reversed. The decision to ignore the will of the Tribal Nations who called for the creation and continued protection of Bears Ears National Monument is perhaps not surprising given the Trump administration’s views on people of color -- but is still deeply disturbing. Also disturbing is the role a uranium mining firm played in having the monument disbanded.
The loss of these national monuments in Utah followed a secretive and haphazard “review” by Secretary Zinke. Though millions of people spoke out in favor of maintaining public lands protections across the country, Zinke shared little information with the public -- failing to respond even to Freedom of Information Act requests. Among the many unknowns still facing Americans are the fates of eight additional national monuments targeted by Zinke.
Oil and gas companies, on the other hand, have had little trouble getting the Secretary’s ear. Zinke has delivered on a shocking number of industry requests, including taking the first steps to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, ordering agency staff to remove regulatory “burdens” to oil and gas development on public lands, and even going so far as to dictate sales of these lands to the industry every 90 days. And meanwhile, Zinke has made no effort to downplay the strong ties held by key Interior Department decision makers to fossil fuel groups and other extractive industries. Zinke’s moves to slash national monuments, open new public lands and waters to drilling, and cut protections for endangered species like the sage grouse have been undertaken with the sole goal of increasing mineral extraction on public lands. He’s brazenly selling out our special places.
At the same time that Zinke is clearing the way for dirty fuel interests, he’s also implementing policies that threaten to keep the public out of our public lands. This year, national parks will have just four fee-free days, compared with 10 last year. Entry fees on other days could more than double at the nation’s most popular parks under a plan proposed by Zinke, rising to $70 per car for 17 parks across the country. Recent polling found that 64 percent of Americans would be less likely to visit a national park if fees were increased. Among Americans with household incomes under $30,000 per year, who would be most impacted by the fee hike, that number jumps to a whopping 71 percent.
Exorbitant fees would also take us one step closer to privatizing our parks, thereby undermining the founding idea that these places should be shared by all. In fact, Secretary Zinke is already testing the waters on privatization. He’s proposed privatizing park campgrounds. And in his response to the resignation of almost the entire National Park System Advisory Board last week, Zinke falsely tried to attribute the increase in park visitation during the 2016 NPS centennial year to private companies. Of course, it was the public effort by the agencies and determined work of diverse park lovers that helped secure the important strides made on both visitation and inclusivity over the past years. That national parks have seen record visitation and that park sites have been expanded to include historic and cultural sites that reflect of our full American story is no accident -- and no thanks to private companies.
We cannot afford to let Zinke hand over our public lands to a greedy few to be destroyed. It’s time to change the picture to public lands as welcoming spaces, as accessible to everyone, as drivers of the outdoor recreation economy, as places to enjoy and explore, and as a gift to future generations. Take action now and tell utilities to do their part by not buying dirty fuels from our national monuments!