Dear Editor
The area surrounding Canyonlands will be lost to the public unless protected from the extraction industry, which is primarily foreign or out of state ownership. The BLM does not have the authority, and more important, does not have the will to protect the Canyonlands area.
The Canyonlands we know today is being leased to oil companies, soon to be leased to potash companies and primarily foreign mining companies.
The majority of the income from these extraction companies goes either out of state or even out of the country. The area we currently use and enjoy in Canyonlands has a high possibility of becoming an industrial zone crisscrossed by roads, above ground pipes, continuous truck traffic on all primary and secondary roads and poor air quality from ozone pollution.
Tourists do not have to come to Moab to experience an industrial zone. They can travel to Vernal, Utah!
The extraction industry has a financial history of boom and bust. The industry cannot possible provide employment to the hundreds or thousands of families that depend on the tourist industry.
Monument status provides the additional authority necessary to protect an area around the park for your children and grandchildren to use.
Monument status will protect our tourist economy and hundreds or thousands of jobs.
Monument status will prevent primarily foreign and out of state companies from destroying much of our local area.
The companies and people who asked President Obama for monument status in Canyonlands deserve your support.
Bill Love, Moab
