During the White House press briefing on President Trump’s executive order to review national monuments, Secretary Zinke was called out over the positive economic impacts of public lands and national monuments in this administration’s latest attack on rural America.

“Zinke’s and Trump’s reckless order to review National Monuments will lead to shrinking and even possibly eliminating protections for some of our most cherished lands that create jobs and drive rural economies,” said Chris Saeger, Executive Director of the Western Values Project. “It’s time for Secretary Zinke to account for the rural jobs he will kill if he shrinks or eliminates these important economic drivers.“

When Secretary Zinke was questioned about jobs ‘lost’ due to a national monument designation he stumbled stating he couldn’t give any numbers until he and the department looked at it. The reality is national monuments and public lands are economic engines for rural parts of the country.

Get the facts:

• Headwaters Economics review of 17 national monuments found regional economic growth following a designation, including per capita income increased – opposite of the declining trends in other rural areas.
• The study found ‘no evidence that designating these national monuments prevented continued economic growth.’ In fact, economic growth in these areas either continued or improved.
• National Parks contributed $34.9 billion and supported 318,000 jobs to the national economy.
• The outdoor industry infused $887 billion into the economy and supported 7.6 million jobs.

“Zinke again claimed to be a ‘Teddy Roosevelt’ guy as he and President Trump took actions that would upend one of Teddy’s landmark pieces of legislation, and that could cost rural economies millions of dollars and jobs,” added Saeger. “President Trump and Secretary Zinke need to get the stubborn facts that national monuments and public lands are good for rural America, good for rural economies, and create jobs.”