The President Stole Your Land

In this last week, if you were hoping for some holiday shopping with the clothing brand Patagonia’s online boutique, you may have found yourself confused with what you found. The website had “The President Stole Your Land” placed the center page in large bold white lettering in place of Patagonia’s typical home page. Scrolling down, you would see that Patagonia’s home page had, in fact, become a call to action, one opposing recent actions by the U.S. President, Donald Trump.

Earlier this month, Trump signed two proclamations which would drastically cut the federally protected land of two national monuments, the areas known as Bear Ears and the Grand-Staircase Escalante, both found in Utah. The proclamations saw the federally protected land of Bear Ears be cut from 1.5 million acres to 228,784 acres, and Escalante’s from 2 million acres to 1,006,341 acres. This is a historically unprecedented cut of federally protected land, the largest ever in fact.

Trump has defended this action, stating that the land is now rightfully belonging to the residents surrounding it, residents he describes as having the land’s best interest in mind. To others, this is seen as a move which aid’s corporate interests, gas, and oil companies now being free to use the once protected land.

These two proclamations were met with collective outrage, an outrage which is best symbolized by Patagonia, the changing of their website and the subsequent attempt to sue for blockage on the proclamation. While the website is now available for its usual use as a clothing boutique, the entire page revolving around what they consider to be now stolen land still stands. Various support groups, in opposition to the proclamations, are listed on the page, and a section is available for any to voice their own opposition. Now it's up to you? Do you side with Trump? Do you side with Patagonia? If its the latter, let your voice be heard.