Commissioners show support for national monument protection

Wyoming county commissioners have signed a letter asking the U.S. Department of Interior to continue protecting national monuments.

The Jackson Hole News And Guide reports Teton County commissioners voted Thursday to join the Mountain Pact nonprofit in their letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke regarding President Donald Trump’s executive order on national monuments. Trump has asked Zinke to place national monuments designated after 1996 under review.

The letter stresses the importance of public lands to rural communities and tells Zinke to keep that in mind when the department reviews national monument designations. The letter says without designations, public lands’ protection and economy would be threatened.

The group says it reached out the county because its economy relies on public lands and because the Grand Teton National Park started out as a monument.