Patagonia hit back with “The President Stole Your Land” Campaign

Patagonia, one of America’s leading outdoor clothing and gear retailer, has slammed President Donald Trump after he announced plans to shrink the size of two national monuments.

The company changed the front page of their website to display a black screen with the message “The President Stole Your Land”. This is designed to rally the public into joining the fight. The company have stated they intent to fight the Government legally. 

“Americans have overwhelmingly spoken out against the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attempt to shut down our national monuments. The Administration’s unlawful actions betray our shared responsibility to protect iconic places for future generations and represent the largest elimination of protected land in American history. We’ve fought to protect these places since we were founded and now we’ll continue that fight in the courts.” said Rose Marcario, President and CEO, Patagonia in a statement of their website.

Earlier this year the company used their first ever TV advert to urge people to hold the Government to account for their actions to public lands:

At the time the compoany insisted this was an apolitical action stating : “This is not about politics or partisanship – it’s about standing up for places that belong to future generations. We want to raise awareness of history’s lesson that when public lands are turned over to states that can’t afford to maintain them, the result is the land is often auctioned off to private companies who irrevocably damage them and deny access to them for all of us. Whether you are a hunter or a hiker, an angler or a climber, we want you to join us in this fight to ensure access and protection for our public lands. ”

On this latest move by Trump, described by the company as illegal they explain: “Patagonia has been in the fight to protect public lands for almost 30 years— and we are proud to have played a part in the establishment of several national monuments, including Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and Basin and Range and Gold Butte National Monuments in Nevada. We are also proud to stand alongside over 350 businesses, conservation groups and Native American tribes that have come together on this issue to protect public lands. Climbers, hikers, hunters and anglers all agree that public lands are a critical part of our national heritage and these lands belong not just to us, but to future generations.”

We reached out to Patagonia who told us:

“We understand that there will be several lawsuits filed today following the president’s reductions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase National Monuments:

  • Patagonia will be announcing a potential lawsuit against the Trump Administration for the protection of Bears Ears National Monument not Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. There will be a separate friends group that files a lawsuit to protect Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Patagonia’s standing was stronger in a suit to protect Bears Ears National Monument. 
  • There will be several lawsuits to protect Bears Ears National Monument:
    • One of those lawsuits will be filed by the Inter Tribal Coalition. We expect this to be the first suit filed.
    • Patagonia along with Friends of Cedar Mesa, Utah Dine Bikeyah and Archaeology Southwest and others will file a day or two after the Inter Tribal Coalition’s suit.
    • And we are sure there will be other lawsuits (because the president’s action today is illegal).”

Links

http://www.patagonia.com

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