Apparel-maker Patagonia Inc. sued President Donald Trump over his decision to reduce the size of the Bears Ears national monument in Utah in a case joined by conservation and preservation groups.
The retailer claims Trump’s decision Monday to substantially reduce the size of Bears Ears — to about 220,000 acres from 1.4 million acres — exceeds his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Patagonia has been considered an “activist company” nearly since it was started in 1973 by climber Yvon Chouinard.
Patagonia and the groups are seeking a court order blocking the move, according to papers filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington. The suit is at least the fifth to be filed after of Trump’s announcement. Other suits were by environmental groups and American Indian tribes.
Former President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears as a national monument in December 2016 over the objections of Utah’s Republican political leadership.
Trump, with the backing of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and others, substantially undid his predecessor’s action with a proclamation Monday.
Patagonia commits 1 percent of its total sales or 10 percent of its profit, whichever is more, to environmental groups.
Other groups participating in the case are Archaeology Southwest, a preservation group; The Access Fund, a rock-climbing advocacy organization; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; the Conservation Lands Foundation; Friends of Cedar Mesa; The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; and a Native American conservation group that had lobbied for creation of the Bears Ears monument.