For immediate release
Tomorrow, with the support of Tribal Nations, conservationists, and outdoor enthusiasts, President Biden is expected to restore protections for Bears Ears National Monument, protecting 1.36 million acres of land in southeast Utah. Bears Ears is one of our nation’s most significant cultural, natural landscapes with thousands of sacred sites and resources supporting local Indigenous tribes. It is also an area offering world-class rock climbing and other outdoor recreational opportunities.
“We want to thank the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition for their leadership and thank all of our friends in the Indigenous and environmental communities who have worked to protect Bears Ears National Monument,” said Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert. “We also want to thank the Biden administration, especially Secretary Haaland, for their work to restore protections for more than a million acres of sacred land. We have a shared responsibility to conserve these important cultural landscapes for future generations.”
Patagonia started working with our friends in the Indigenous and environmental communities to protect Bears Ears in 2013. As part of our efforts, we released our first-ever television advertisement, a film, a fundraising website, a virtual tour and other initiatives in our stores and online. We celebrated when President Obama designated the area as a national monument in 2016. Then, on December 6, 2017, we joined the sovereign Indigenous nations of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe, and Pueblo of Zuni, along with several grassroots groups, to sue the Trump administration after Trump drastically reduced the monument’s boundaries.
If you choose to visit Bears Ears, or any other Indigenous land, please visit with respect. You can read tips here and here.
Please send any media inquiries to patagoniapress@patagonia.com.
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Photo by Michael Estrada