I was confused learning that Doug Owens, founder of the nonprofit Outdoor Partners, teamed up with Mia Love to extol the economic virtues of outdoor recreation in Utah. According to the report released by Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, recreation is a big draw for business considering locating in Utah. Now, Love says she is all for this, it being nice to have hard data. Outdoor Retailer’s move to Colorado, costing the state millions, was data she cared nothing about.
She doesn’t want to talk about the actual land use policies driven by her political allegiance. It is much nicer to talk about recreation. She doesn’t want to talk about her support to dismantle Bears Ears or Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. She doesn’t want to talk about how she supported and campaigned to have this land designated for extraction of oil, gas and coal.
I don’t think it is cynical to believe her election-year conversion is a response to her opponent, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, who is well known as environmentally friendly. Considering her actual record, I think this is an example of either cognitive dissonance or Love selling snake oil.
Frank Brannan, Salt Lake City