In eviscerating the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments, Utah’s congressional delegation and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke attack future Americans who have no voice.

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Public lands are not just for a few ranchers and fossil fuel companies. They provide opportunities for everyone and for the very long term, instead of the graze and burp, boom and bust cycles of single purpose agriculture or energy extraction. Small businesses around Escalante have proven that introducing visitors to the wonders of the natural world is more sustainable and offers a wider array of benefits to more people in rural Utah.

The Antiquities Act was enacted when Congress was bipartisan, expressly to protect public lands from exploitation. Indeed, the first monument was Mesa Verde, established to prevent further desecration of Native American sites.

National monuments protect lands, history, and experiences for all Americans, present and future. Every national monument and national park was protested by a few locals who ignored posterity, but these same monuments are later extolled by those same locals as treasures.

A growing population needs more (and larger) monuments and parks, not fewer.

Bryan Dixon

St. George

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