Dec. 7 (UPI) — Sporting goods retailer Patagonia and a coalition of conservationists have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump for his decision to shrink two Utah national monuments.
The company made its website go black after Trump’s announcement Monday, with the text “The President Stole Your Land” featured on the site.
Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario said the coalition is suing to “protect the places we love,” in a letter in Time magazine.
“The President and a handful of politicians would like you to believe that they are doing what is best by rescinding 85 percent of Bears Ears National Monument and nearly half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,” Marcario wrote. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The Patagonia CEO said Trump is putting more than a million acres of land at risk for permanent destruction.
Marcario listed four reasons for the lawsuit — enforcing the law, carrying out its purpose as a benefit corporation, standing with grassroots partners and defending its business.
Marcario said the Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to manage federal lands — and that Trump doesn’t have the power to undo a previous president’s monuments.
Other companies also expressed their support for Bears Ears National Monument, including The North Face, which pledged to donate $100,000 to create an educational center at Bears Ears.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the lawsuit won’t change the administration’s decision.
“The argument that somehow President Trump stole land is nefarious, false and a lie,” he said.
