Patagonia wants everyone to know . Three months ago, the California-based outdoor apparel maker responded to the shrinking of what was then called Bears Ears National Monument with the headline聽鈥The President Stole Your Land鈥 across an all-black homepage. Today, it added a new message. As of Thursday afternoon, the black-and-white display, which disappeared for a time,聽now includes the phrase 鈥淎nd You Were Lied To.鈥
Along with the updated website, the聽brand published accusing聽President Donald Trump and the Department of the Interior of聽lying to the American public about the role that energy extraction interests played in the downsizing of the聽Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments.聽鈥淭he redrawing of boundaries was and directly influenced聽by an industry that spends millions of dollars lobbying the government to get what it wants,鈥 the post聽reads.
This聽is聽the latest salvo in a protracted war between Patagonia and聽congressional lawmakers and the White House over public lands. Patagonia, along with other outdoor companies like the North Face and Black Diamond,聽was a key player in the decision to relocate the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show from Salt Lake City to Denver, as a protest against聽Utah lawmakers鈥 anti-public-lands polices. In December, after reductions were announced for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante, Patagonia published the first iteration of the all-black homepage. A few days later, the House Natural Resources Committee responded聽with a tweet mocking the original message, and prompting some to ask: Was GOP congress calling for consumers to boycott Patagonia?听听
Next came an invitation from Utah Republican Representative聽Rob Bishop to Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard to testify before Congress on the聽national-monuments restructuring. Chouinard聽passed on聽Bishop's offer.
While all this was playing out, Patagonia also joined聽a聽lawsuit filed by five Native American tribes聽in December聽to block the President's shrinking of the two national monuments.聽As that moves through court, Patagonia is聽calling on its聽customers to get some skin in the game.聽鈥淚t is your voice and your vote that are the two most important tools we have to remind elected officials that Americans鈥攅veryone from sportsmen and women, to outdoor enthusiasts, to conservationists and the tribes who have known these lands longer than anyone鈥攚ant public lands protected.鈥