16 local leaders in Utah sign letter to Interior secretary, urging him to 'protect public lands'

SALT LAKE CITY — More than a dozen current or former local leaders in Utah are among a group of over 200 across the West who sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, urging him to reconsider recent policies they say have threatened public lands.

The group contends that there have been "numerous threats to the health and protection" of Western public lands, per the letter, dated Wednesday, pointing to President Donald Trump's July order to shrink Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in Utah by 90%.

They added that they have concerns about other recent policies, such as "deep cuts" to agency budgets and employment, a "fossil-fuel-forward" energy agenda and efforts or decisions to roll back the Public Lands and Roadless conservation rules.

"These beloved protected spaces sustain our communities and serve as the backbone of our outdoor way of life. ... We ask you to join in that legacy by standing up to protect public lands for the American people — of the present, and of generations to come," the group wrote in part.

In all, 16 current or former Utah local leaders signed the letter, including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Cottonwood Heights Mayor Gay Lynn Bennion, Midvale Mayor Dustin Gettel, Alta Mayor Roger Bourke and Springdale, Washington County, Mayor Barbara Bruno.

Current and past leaders of Alta, Moab, Springdale and Castle Valley, Grand County, as well as Grand and Summit counties, also signed the letter.

Mendenhall acknowledged the letter on social media, writing that she was compelled by the recent reductions to Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, leaving them open to new mining claims.

"Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears are an unmatched part of our amazing state. I want my family and future generations to be able to experience their beauty, too," she wrote.

Past and present mayors or council members of similar local governments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming accounted for the other 186 signatures.

The group wrote that public lands drive the region's economy, including over $10 billion from visits to National Park Service sites in 2024, while the overall outdoor recreation economy accounted for over $695 billion toward the country's GDP, per federal data.

They added that they fear more cuts to public lands are coming, linking to a Center for American Progress analysis that deemed 81 congressional proposals introduced this year were "antiparks." The center describes itself as a "nonpartisan policy institute," but its views are considered by many as left-leaning.

Many Utah leaders, who are Republicans, have praised the recent changes.

For example, Gov. Spencer Cox and other high-ranking state officials joined the congressional leaders in visiting the White House when Trump signed his order on two Utah monuments, asserting that the monuments were too large.

"We need to rightsize these monuments," Cox said at the time, adding that other protections would remain in place and the maneuver would make the monuments "more manageable."

Utah Sen. Mike Lee supported a bill to repeal the roadless rule, which prohibits road construction and timber harvesting across approximately 60 million acres of national forests in the West and Alaska. He said in June that it has "wreaked havoc on a lot of Western communities."

The Fix Our Forests Act, co-sponsored by Utah Sen. John Curtis, is one of the bills that the Center for American Progress calls "antipark," asserting that it weakens or undermines bedrock conservation policies.

Curtis has defended it, saying in July that it could help address the region's fire woes by "dramatically" changing how forests are managed before any fires, as well as how fires are fought.

Litigation has been filed or threatened after some of the Interior's recent decisions.

That includes the sizes of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. Several conservation groups filed paperwork in federal court earlier this month asking to reactivate existing litigation, rekindling a lengthy legal battle with no end in sight.

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