DENVER—Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are meeting with Utah Representative Rob Bishop today. It is widely expected that Rep. Bishop, who is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and a vehemently anti-conservation congressman, will encourage the incoming administration to erode America’s public lands legacy by eliminating national monuments across the Western United States.
Legal experts agree that this unprecedented move—a U.S. president attempting to erase national monuments—would almost assuredly fail in the courts. Unconcerned with the legal ramifications, Rep. Bishop hopes President-elect Trump will favor industry interests who would like America’s monuments to disappear, so corporations can drill, pave, and develop natural areas across Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, California, and beyond.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala before today’s meeting:
“President-elect Donald Trump would be well-served to ignore Congressman Bishop’s outrageous plan to roll back protections for America’s public lands. This a clear-cut case of a politician carrying water for the corporate interests who’ve underwritten his political career, not the people who choose to call the West home. Congressman Bishop’s vision for the West, where pumpjacks replace open space and where subdivisions replace hunting grounds, is out of step with the vast majority of Westerners.”
A few key facts in advance of the meeting between Rep. Bishop and President-elect Trump’s transition team
Rep. Bishop is in the pocket of the oil industry
Since Rep. Bishop first ran for Congress in 2003, oil companies have provided nearly twice as much money into his elections as the next closest industry. The Utah congressman also receives more money from out-of-state interests than almost all other members of Congress.
Public land managers are already prioritizing oil and gas development over recreation and conservation
The large majority of Western public lands are currently open and accessible to oil, gas, and other forms of development. One analysis found that 90 percent of America’s public lands are open to oil and gas leasing while only 10 percent are set aside for outdoor recreation, land conservation, and other important uses.
Protected public lands are a competitive economic advantage for Western communities
Over the last four-plus decades, Western counties with more protected public lands (like national monuments) outperformed counties with fewer protected public lands across a number of economic metrics, including faster population, employment, personal income, and per capita income growth.
A strong majority of Westerners support national monument protections, even those Bishop claims are controversial
According to a bipartisan poll conducted by Colorado College, 45 percent of Utahns believe that the creation of Grand Staircase‚ÄìEscalante National Monument was a “good thing” while only 25 percent think it was a “bad thing.” 58 percent of Montanan’s think that creating the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument was a “good thing” while only 11 percent think it was a “bad thing.”
Jennifer Rokala is available for video and audio interviews. To speak with an expert about public lands, contact media director Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org.