Political Quotes

“I think that editorial puts this debate squarely in front of my colleagues. We have a nominee who has been all over the map as it relates to public lands, and, certainly, he has been on record that he will implement the President's strategy. I know he plans to visit this area, and I am so concerned that it will be the first of many areas in which people run over the larger public and national interests in order to preserve special places just for immediate extraction when, in reality, the jobs from the outdoor economy are just as important and, if you add up numbers, may be more important economically in both the near term and the long term. I should also note that those of us in Washington would gladly welcome the outdoor retailers with open arms. I am sure they will consider many different places, but we understand that protecting our most treasured places not only preserves them for this generation but for future generations, and it helps drive an economy. In Utah, outdoor recreation is responsible for $12 billion in consumer spending--more than twice the value of oil and gas produced in that State. If we are talking about top dog economics, the outdoor industry wins. In Washington State, the outdoor economy supports 227,000 direct-paying jobs and wages of $7.1 billion. Nationwide, it is 6.1 million jobs and $646 billion in revenues from outdoor recreation, so this is a very valued part of the U.S. economy.…”