Lawmakers must protect public lands, our shared inheritance

Shelly Burgoyne

Submitted photo/VetsFWD

This shared inheritance (of public lands) is a tangible piece of the democracy that I swore an oath to defend, and one that is the envy of the rest of the world. Rep. Ciscomani knows this, but his loyalty to Trump will prevent him from doing anything about it. … If Trump can take this sacred place in Utah, he can take the Grand Canyon, because Rep. Ciscomani will do nothing about it.”

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OPINION — During long deployments overseas, surrounded by concrete barriers, barren landscapes and constant deadly toxins, a soldier looks for a place in their mind that grounds them. For many service members, that mental anchor is America’s preserved public lands. These vast and uninhabited spaces belong to every citizen equally.

This is why the recent decision by Trump and supported by Rep. Juan Ciscomani and others to slash the neighboring boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah by 90% is deeply troubling. This executive action strips protections from millions of acres of public land. It opens up pristine terrain to data-center development and mining interests. This move fundamentally misinterprets what makes America unique.

Our nation’s vast system of protected and public land is a distinctly American victory. Unlike the rest of the world, where forests and game reserves were and remain the exclusive private property of kings, aristocrats and oligarchs, the United States set out on a radical idea: The most beautiful landscapes in our nation should be owned collectively by the people, not tech billionaires.

This shared inheritance is a tangible piece of the democracy that I swore an oath to defend, and one that is the envy of the rest of the world.

Rep. Ciscomani knows this, but his loyalty to Trump will prevent him from doing anything about it. When he says he wants to protect our public lands, he knows that he can’t and won’t. He will allow Trump to take them from us. If Trump can take this sacred place in Utah, he can take the Grand Canyon, because Rep. Ciscomani will do nothing about it. 

For veterans returning home from combat, our public lands offer a clear pathway back to civilian life. Many veterans find solace, clarity and decompression in the quiet of places like southern Utah. Programs across the country actively use wilderness therapy to help wounded and traumatized service members heal. The silence of a canyon or the scale of a mountain range provides invaluable perspective that clinical settings simply cannot replicate.

Our public lands are a vital part of what makes this country worth fighting for. To dismantle them is to trash the heritage of every single American who has ever worn our uniform. Rep. Ciscomani told us he would protect our public land, but make no mistake: He will allow Trump to take as much of them as the tech billionaires want.

Former U.S. Army officer and Operation Iraqi Freedom I and III combat veteran Shelly Burgoyne is Southern Arizona director for VetsFWD, a nonprofit grassroots advocacy group. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.