FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press contact: PatagoniaPress@patagonia.com

VENTURA, Calif. — For the second time in nine years, outdoor apparel company Patagonia is suing the Trump administration for shrinking Bears Ears National Monument.

The filing comes after President Donald Trump announced July 13 the reduction of Bears Ears by approximately 91 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by approximately 90 percent. In total, nearly 3 million acres of land lost national monument protections in what became the largest cut to public lands protection in U.S. history.

Patagonia, and its co-plaintiffs, assert that the proclamation reducing Bears Ears was illegal. The Antiquities Act gives a president the power to designate national monuments, not undo them.

“Slashing Bears Ears and dismantling the Bears Ears Commission is a betrayal of Tribal sovereignty and needlessly throws away years of effort to create the first Tribal co-management structure of a national monument in U.S. history,” said Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert “Patagonia worked with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, scientists, conservation groups, outdoor industry advocates and more to establish the monument in 2016, and we are committed to defending it today and into the future.”

Trump shrank both monuments in 2017 during his first term, which resulted in Patagonia becoming the first company ever to sue a sitting president over public land protection. President Joe Biden restored the monuments in 2021, but Trump announced a second, more aggressive cut, and Patagonia’s long connection with the area and its commitment to protect it compelled the company to act.

Patagonia’s full history with Bears Ears goes back to even before the monument was created. The company has supported nonprofit organizations working to establish, steward and protect the area since at least 2013 and has contributed more than $1.64 million in grants since then. The company also helped raise more than $700,000 for those groups through its own separate donations and those of business partners and customers.

Throughout the years, Patagonia has published multiple stories and films on Bears Ears’ cultural significance, outdoor recreation opportunities and natural beauty to raise awareness and support for its protection, including the feature-length film “Public Trust” in 2020, which depicts the effort to protect Bears Ears as a symbol for the work to save public lands across the country.

Indigenous peoples have stewarded the area for thousands of years, and Tribal Nations led the effort to protect the region. Bears Ears is the first national monument created at the urging of Tribal Nations, and before the proclamation, was the first national monument with a Tribal-led resource management plan. It is home to thousands of culturally significant and sacred sites and a place where Tribes conduct ceremonies, gather traditional plants and medicines, pass on cultural knowledge, and maintain connections to their ancestors.

Bears Ears is also home to some of the best rock climbing and outdoor recreation opportunities in North America. Patagonia’s employees, ambassadors and community are deeply connected to the area and have made countless trips to the monument to recreate and enjoy nature.

“We need leaders in all levels of government and from across the country to push back against the administration’s order and the greater whole-of-government assault on public lands, climate action and environmental protection,” Gellert said. “We must hold them accountable if they do not.”

About Patagonia 

We’re in business to save our home planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. As a certified B Corporation and a founding member of 1% for the Planet, the company is recognized internationally for its product quality and environmental activism, as well as its contributions of more than $240 million to environmental organizations. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid to Holdfast Collective to protect the planet.