Small Businesses Implore Trump to Leave Nat’l. Monuments Intact
Suzanne Potter, Producer
Friday, November 17, 2017
MESQUITE, Nev. – Small business leaders from Nevada have signed a letter to the Trump administration asking that national monuments like Gold Butte be left intact. They join hundreds of colleagues from towns near monuments across the nation - arguing that the economic benefits that these pristine locations bring dwarf any revenues to be gained by allowing mining and energy development.
Michele Burkett is a realtor in Mesquite - a town that likes to think of itself as the gateway to Gold Butte.
"Mesquite is the nearest incorporated town with services - gas, food, lodging," she says. "And so, we benefit substantially, even in the few short months since it's been a new national monument."
Burkett says home values have gone up noticeably since President Barack Obama declared the 300,000-acre monument shortly before leaving office. But, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Interior Secretary to review the size and status of dozens of monuments, and a leaked version of that review has Gold Butte on the list for a size reduction.
President Trump is reported to be making an announcement on monument status in early December.
The President has claimed the monuments needed more public input before being designated. But Gold Butte underwent an extended period of public review and years of negotiations with stakeholders. Burkett says Gold Butte's serenity, peace and quiet is precious and needs to be preserved.
"I'm a hiker," she adds. "It's one of the reasons I treasure Gold Butte so much, is because it's a wide-open space. You can hear yourself think and not have to listen to the busy hubbub of our modern world."
This week's letter was sent to Trump's National Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, and was signed by more than 600 rural businesses and chambers of commerce.
Support for this reporting was provided by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
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