Does it make sense to devote a gear聽website聽to a political message? In the wake of President Donald Trump's order聽to聽shrink聽Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments,聽REI, Patagonia, and the North Face seem to think so.
鈥淭he President stole your land,鈥 reads the particularly clear,聽splashy homepage聽on . and have similar, if a little more nuanced,聽messages on their sites right now, too.聽
Will taking such a clear political stand in this era of hyper-divisive politics cost the brands a few sales? Almost certainly. But clearly, they believe that what they鈥檙e fighting for is worth a little sacrifice.聽
鈥淎t Patagonia, we are outraged to see President Trump attempt to eliminate federal protection of two聽million acres of land that belongs to all Americans,鈥 says Cory Bayers, the brand鈥檚 vice president聽of marketing. 鈥淥n behalf of our staff, customers,聽and the 2.8 million people who voiced their desire to protect these treasures forever, we鈥檙e using every tool at our disposal to stop this illegal action.鈥
Follow the link on Patagonia鈥檚 homepage, and you鈥檙e taken聽to a brief summation of the pro-public lands argument. We've written about this for聽years, so forgive me if I鈥檓 overly brief, but Patagonia hits on the overwhelming public support for the monuments, the billions in consumer spending that makes outdoor rec聽a larger industry than oil and gas, and the states selling off their land to聽oil and gas drillers. It鈥檚 a nice summation that鈥檚 well presented, even if it鈥檚 nothing new.
Follow the Take Action link, and you鈥檙e led to a form that prompts you to tweet to Donald Trump, Ryan Zinke, and Orrin Hatch about protecting the monuments.聽
REI directs you to the聽sites of聽, , and . The North Face kicks you out to .
Yvon聽Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia,聽 early Monday, saying: “I'm going to sue him. It seems the only thing this administration understands is lawsuits. I think it's a shame that only four聽percent聽of American lands are national parks. Costa Rica's got ten percent. Chile will now have way more parks than we have. We need more, not less. This government is evil and I'm not going to sit back and let evil win.”
Patagonia鈥檚 all-black website feels very appropriate right now.