Opposing the Potential Designation of a Greater Canyonland National Monument

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
So we have all seen "The Letter" at this point. While this is potentially a frightening prospect, at this point all it is is a letter from an industry group.
But since that is all it is, it gives us, the users of this land, an opportunity to head this off at the pass! We need to get our voice heard early on in this process and that means right now.

What we need to do is a layered approach where we attack this problem from multiple angles.

First:

I have created an online petition asking President Obama not to designate this area as a national monument:

President Barack Obama: Do Not Designate the Greater Canyonlands Area a National Monument

Now, yes, online petitions don't carry much weight but it gets noticed by people and hopefully gets them to do more. So go, sign it, share it on your Facebook, Twitter, other forums! Get this out there and talk about it!

Second:

Write your Senators and Representative. Here are links to contact those from Utah:

Senator Orrin Hatch
Senator Mike Lee

Rep. Rob Bishop
Rep. Jim Matheson
Rep. Jason Chaffetz

In contacting them, try to be polite and express your concerns concisely. Below you will find a form letter, but I encourage you to write your own as it will carry much more weight.

Dear [Representative/Congressman] [enter name here],

It has recently come to my attention that the Outdoor Industry Association has written to President Barack Obama encouraging him to designate 1.4 million acres of land surrounding Canyonlands National Park as a new national monument. Their motivation behind this is that they believe these 1.4 million acres, already federally administered by the Bureau of Land Management, requires greater protection from resource development and off-highway vehicle use.

As I am sure you are well aware, the BLM already has ample capability to manage this land to allow resource development, mechanized and non-mechanized recreation to coexist in a balanced, responsible way. As a citizen of the State of Utah, I love and enjoy this area for its natural beauty, and am proud to say that myself and generations of Utahans before me have been responsible caretakers of this land; which is why it maintains its beauty to this day! That said, I am very concerned at the prospect of adding an additional layer of management on this land, which will do little to further protect its natural beauty, but would have negative effects on economic growth in the state of Utah.

It is my sincere hope that you, as my [Representative/Congressman], will oppose any effort to designate the 1.4 million acres surround Canyonlands as a new national monument.

Regards,

[Your Name]

Third:

Write the President.

President Barack Obama

Sound silly? Maybe, but it cant hurt. As with above, try to be polite and express your concerns concisely. Below you will find a form letter, but I encourage you to write your own as it will carry much more weight.

Dear Mr. President,

It has recently come to my attention that the Outdoor Industry Association has written to you encouraging you to designate 1.4 million acres of land surrounding Canyonlands National Park as a new national monument. Their motivation behind this is that they believe these 1.4 million acres, already federally administered by the Bureau of Land Management, requires greater protection from resource development and off-highway vehicle use.

As I am sure you are well aware, the BLM already has ample capability to manage this land to allow resource development, mechanized and non-mechanized recreation to coexist in a balanced, responsible way. As a citizen of the State of Utah, I love and enjoy this area for its natural beauty, and am proud to say that myself and generations of Utahans before me have been responsible caretakers of this land; which is why it maintains its beauty to this day! That said, I am very concerned at the prospect of adding an additional layer of management on this land, which will do little to further protect its natural beauty, but would have negative effects on economic growth in the state of Utah.

It is my sincere hope that you will not designate this area as a national monument.

Regards,

[Your Name]

Fourth:

Write the businesses that signed the letter. Express your discontent that they are supporting something like this and that you will be taking your business elsewhere. We've already seen that Camp Chef was duped, how many others? Contacting the businesses could actually be the most important part of this, so please, please do this! Again, a form letter below (which I stole from Veyecteaoare as I couldn't possibly say it better), but a personal one will always, always go further!

Dear Sir and/or Madam,

I have just resently discovered that your business/organization has signed on to a letter that was sent to President Obama to ask him to designate the Greater Canyonlands area a National Monument.

Let me voice my great disappointment with this fact. As an avid outdoorsperson, I have chosen to live in Utah because of it's diverse recreation opportunities, some of which involves motorized offroad vehicle use. By designating the Greater Canyonlands area as a National Monument, it would no doubt close this area off to responsible motorized use, and people that would not be able to enjoy the area by any other means would be denied access to the wonders and beauty within the area.

Please understand that I truly respect your position on this matter. With this letter, I just wanted to inform you of my position. As a citizen of Utah, and an avid camper, fisherman, hiker, snowboarder, and mtn biker, I cannot, in good conscience, support a business that would knowingly exclude people such as my elderly parents or people with special needs from enjoying what this great land has to offer. In the future, I will look to support businesses and organizations that openly promote inclusive and responsible land use.

Respectfully,

[Your Name]

Fifth:

Mail in all your letters. No really, fill out an envelope, put a stamp on it and mail it in. This carries FAR more weith than an e-mail. Trust me.

Sixth:

Don't freak out. As I said at the beginning, this was just a letter by an industry group. It's made a big splash, but until we hear something from the government side, there is very little to be concerned about. But the sooner we act, by following the above steps, the more likely we will be able to make a difference. So do that and tell your friend to too. Share this post on any and all boards your are a member of. Get the word out!
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
very well written Stephen, thank you. It clearly outlines exactly what people can do to help.

While it may not be obvious to everyone, the more letters we send, the more our voice is heard. Don't assume that since two or three people sent letters that these people get the point. The point is that there are a TON of people who are affected by this, and none of us want to see this area affected.
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Facebook:

Get on these companies Facebook pages and express your displeasure. This means anyone going to their Facebook pages will see that they did this. It'll at the very least promote discussion.
 

Marsh99

Lover of all things Toyota
Location
Mantua UT
Second:

Write your Senators and Representative. Here are links to contact those from Utah:

Senator Orrin Hatch
Senator Mike Lee

Rep. Rob Bishop
Rep. Jim Matheson
Rep. Jason Chaffetz

In contacting them, try to be polite and express your concerns concisely. Below you will find a form letter, but I encourage you to write your own as it will carry much more weight.
Dear [Representative/Congressman] [enter name here],

It has recently come to my attention that the Outdoor Industry Association has written to President Barack Obama encouraging him to designate 1.4 million acres of land surrounding Canyonlands National Park as a new national monument. Their motivation behind this is that they believe these 1.4 million acres, already federally administered by the Bureau of Land Management, requires greater protection from resource development and off-highway vehicle use.

As I am sure you are well aware, the BLM already has ample capability to manage this land to allow resource development, mechanized and non-mechanized recreation to coexist in a balanced, responsible way. As a citizen of the State of Utah, I love and enjoy this area for its natural beauty, and am proud to say that myself and generations of Utahans before me have been responsible caretakers of this land; which is why it maintains its beauty to this day! That said, I am very concerned at the prospect of adding an additional layer of management on this land, which will do little to further protect its natural beauty, but would have negative effects on economic growth in the state of Utah.

It is my sincere hope that you, as my [Representative/Congressman], will oppose any effort to designate the 1.4 million acres surround Canyonlands as a new national monument.

Regards,

[Your Name]

The advice that I would give is to make all the letters personal...
All government officials use a system of scanning letters into a computer program. After they are scanned in the system a staff member sorts the letters out to office to answer. The point of your letter should be to get it in the hands of the land use staffer, or the member, and not an intern. The formula to make it happen is to be personal, interested with questions, and polite. The more personal letters the staffers receive, the more the issue will be on the radar in the office. If everyone sends the same letter with a different name on the bottom the staffer will learn what it looks like and divert it to the interns.

just my 2 cents
 
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zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
Facebook:

Get on these companies Facebook pages and express your displeasure. This means anyone going to their Facebook pages will see that they did this. It'll at the very least promote discussion.


i started going down the list.. the first few had a couple other comments of dislike..

then they got less and less

we need to keep going .. a few comments isnt going to do anything we all need to be commenting on all of there pages.. maybe even multipul times a day until they realize how many people are unhappy with this
 

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
I would like to remind everyone that county staff members have said that it takes as few as 20 emails or letters on a topic to turn their attention in that direction. It DOES matter, and I hope that this time, it won't be the same 20 people writing to let their voices be hears. :D

Also, being respectful and clear goes a long way. Saying "F**K YOU! GET OUT OF MY STATE!!" doesn't go very far. But a reasonable discussion, with clear, intelligent points, does. Think about talking to someone in person about the topic and how you'd want to come off.

anyway. ;)
 

Kevin B.

Big hippy
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
Does anybody know who Ashley Korenblat is? I've been poking around and found this posted at Fourwheeler.com:

6. There has been a misunderstanding. The Outdoor Industry Association proposal for a Canyonlands National Monument WOULD KEEP ROADS AND TRAILS OPEN TO MOTORIZED TRAVEL. The outdoor industry is asking for this Monument to protect recreation of all types---biking, jeeping, hiking, horses, ohv's, hang gliders, base jumpers---EVERYBODY. We are seeking to protect the area from mineral extraction, like oil and gas, tar sands, and oil shale. Development of these resources has already started and is slated to ramp up beginning next year on the 5 million acres to the north, south, east and west of Canyonlands. I don't know about you, but we do not enjoy camping near an oil pump that is making noise all night, nor do we want to ride our bikes, hike, or drive through toxic sludge. The Monument is not Wilderness and would not be closed to motorized travel. I am sorry that this mis-information got out there!

AshleyKorenblat - Posted Yesterday 11:32 PM

http://blogs.fourwheeler.com/6817161/editorials/who-hates-4x4s-in-utah/#ixzz2CIZRsL3N

edit - found her. She owns Western Spirit Cycling in Moab, and is quoted a couple times in a Trib article on the OIA proposal but I don't see anything tying her directly to SUWA. Is the SUWA pdf that toyotacrawlin linked above the same thing as what the Outdoor Industry Association is pushing for?
 
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TJDukit

I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
Location
Clearfield
Working my way through facebook pages posting up my polite displeasure with the companies who are supporting this and so far every page I've been two has had multiple comments already, awesome guys.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Does anybody know who Ashley Korenblat is? I've been poking around and found this posted at Fourwheeler.com:



http://blogs.fourwheeler.com/6817161/editorials/who-hates-4x4s-in-utah/#ixzz2CIZRsL3N

edit - found her. She owns Western Spirit Cycling in Moab, and is quoted a couple times in a Trib article on the OIA proposal but I don't see anything tying her directly to SUWA. Is the SUWA pdf that toyotacrawlin linked above the same thing as what the Outdoor Industry Association is pushing for?


Excellent question. These companies didn't sign the SUWA proposal, they signed the OIA proposal which has very different wording. Just because those companies signed the petition doesn't mean they're SUWA supporters (though I'm sure many are).

The tricky part is that they didn't outline the provisions they wanted, other than Obama make it a National Monument. You'd better believe that if he does make it a national monument, SUWA will swoop in and push to get far more than the petition asks for.


letter in question is not the I think a lot of us are jumping to the conclusion that this letter supports SUWA's stance of closing motorized access. All it really asks is that President Obama makes the area a national monument.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Does anybody know who Ashley Korenblat is? I've been poking around and found this posted at Fourwheeler.com:



http://blogs.fourwheeler.com/6817161/editorials/who-hates-4x4s-in-utah/#ixzz2CIZRsL3N

edit - found her. She owns Western Spirit Cycling in Moab, and is quoted a couple times in a Trib article on the OIA proposal but I don't see anything tying her directly to SUWA. Is the SUWA pdf that toyotacrawlin linked above the same thing as what the Outdoor Industry Association is pushing for?


to kathy on fourwheeler.com. She needs to be reminded that the petition she signed states:

" We also turn to you for action because unfortunately, Greater Canyonlands is endangered. Federal land use plans... fail to address exploding off-road vehicle use that is damaging riparian areas, cultural sites, soils and solitude."
 
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TJDukit

I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
Location
Clearfield
I think a lot of us are jumping to the conclusion that this letter supports SUWA's stance of closing motorized access. All it really asks is that President Obama makes the area a national monument.

This is why the whole boycott thing is a little over the top. I really think that most companies that signed this don't realize the potential impact. If it were to happen there is no guarantee it would be closed to motorized traffic but it could. I just don't think most people realize what kind of power it gives up by making it a National Monument.

The only thing we can really do at this point is stay involved and informed. Stop jumping to conclusions and be respectful in any communications we send out regarding this issue. Spread the word to your friends and family and hope they join the fight.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
well said. Let's remember they didn't sign the SUWA petition, but the way their petition was worded, it definitely left the door wide open for SUWA to make a push to close those roads.
 
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