In the beginning of 2017, Patagonia penned a critical, yet warranted blog post about Utah and its connection with the outdoor industry. Then, last week, literally the day we got to St. George, Gov. Gary Herbert reached out to the Trump Administration, requesting the monument status of Bear’s Ears National Monument be lifted, allowing mineral and oil extraction to take place, resulting in Patagonia flexing its Outdoor Retailer muscles…

In addition to this blow, the BLM has opened the land lease on the original Red Bull Rampage site in Virgin, Utah. After some commentary on Instagram, @ParkCityMountainBiking dropped a bit of insight on us:

“There’s a lot of folks here in Utah fighting the good fight, but we can’t do it alone and especially need those with a prominent voice and platform to push these issues to the forefront. Here are a couple of good places to start:

1. Public Comment on leasing of BLM lands (specifically the old Rampage site) – You can also use this link from the Sierra Club.

2. Defend Bear’s Ears National Monument (Use zip code 84032). Email is nice, but phone calls are better.”

So yes, Utah needs our help. If you have ever stepped foot on public land there, or taken part of your own kind of Rad Atavism, please take a few minutes and read the above two links. It’s gut wrenching to read headlines like this, but as cyclists and lovers of the outdoors, we need to do our share. Thank you.