This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As a Utah native and Vietnam veteran, I read "Utah Wildlife Board speaks out against Bears Ears Monument" [Tribune, Aug. 17] with dismayed interest. As previously reported in The Salt Lake Tribune, recent polls demonstrate that a majority of Utahns support the new monument, a consideration ignored by our elected, so-called representatives as well as the state's wildlife board.

While hunting interests dominate the state's wildlife advisory groups, National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation show the importance of wildlife-related recreation to the non-hunting public. Of all Americans age 16 or older, 71.8 million (30 percent of U.S. population) observed wildlife and spent $55 billion, compared to the 12.5 million or 6 percent who hunted and spent $34 billion (USFWS 2012). In Utah, the Outdoor Industry Foundation (OIF) reports similar findings with 43 percent of the state's population (714,000) engaging in hiking, backpacking, rock climbing and trail running (OIF 2010).

While selection of elected representatives remains the responsibility of Utah voters, selection of the Utah Wildlife Board is the state's responsibility. That process has resulted in favor of sportsmen, generally anti-public lands, interests. That process needs extensive reform to reflect the diversity of Utahns' wildlife interests.

Kim Crumbo

Ogden