Outdoor companies back proposed Utah national monument

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A coalition of outdoor sports companies in Salt Lake City voiced support Thursday for a proposed national monument in southeastern Utah that has become a flashpoint in the debate over public lands in the West.

Company leaders from a group that included The North Face, Patagonia, Rossignol and Black Diamond said at a Thursday news conference that preserving open spaces is paramount to keeping their industry vibrant and allowing Utah-based companies to recruit top talent.

Utah's top Republican lawmakers instead want Congress to designate 1.4 million acres around Bears Ears as a conservation area while opening up other lands in the state for development.

Opponents fear a federal designation would create restrictions on oil and gas development and on residents' ability to camp, bike, hike, and gather wood.

Beverly Redd, of Blanding, Utah, sat in the back wearing a T-shirt with a picture of slain rancher LaVoy Finicum, who served as a spokesman for ranchers in an armed standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge earlier this year.