Three Years of Revolving Doors, Huge Campaign Contributions, Reckless Decisions Leave Public Lands Users Footing the Bill

Today, Western Values Project — an Accountable.US project based in Montana, defending America’s public lands — released the latest in a series of corruption reports highlighting how the Trump administration is costing public lands users across Western states. Today’s report focuses on Arizona and can be downloaded here. 

“Donald Trump and his friends are getting richer by shutting the rest of us out of our American birthright,” said Deputy Director of Western Values Project Jayson O’Neill. “Everything from the Grand Canyon to the water all Arizonans need has been endangered by the Trump administration’s rampant corruption and unchecked recklessness. Any member of the Arizona Congressional delegation who purports to care about public lands must act to actually protect those lands from this unprecedented level of exploitation. A good place to start would be stopping President Trump’s war on Arizona’s public lands and water.”

A revolving door of staff and huge campaign contributions to the President and his allies have paved the way for special interests to jeopardize some of the most iconic landscapes in the state. Strikingly, the report shows that vested interests for developing Arizona’s public lands and water have a close relationship to the administration:

• Nearly 2 million additional acres of public lands have all been targeted for reductions or elimination by the President, including the Grand Canyon- Parashant, Ironwood Forest, Sonoran Desert and Vermillion Cliffs National Monuments.
• The Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan (CRDCP) was pushed through by an out-of-state lobbying firm that used to employ Trump’s Interior Secretary, who will be responsible for implementing the plan. It could cost taxpayers and farmers critical water resources.
• A number of Trump appointees have ties to companies that could profit from the construction of his controversial border wall.

Supporting materials for the report can be downloaded here.