Watch Yvon Chouinard Talk About Bears Ears

Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, said the government is “evil” for seeking to shrink the size of national monuments in Utah.

He is “ready for a long legal fight” against the federal government and Utahns who want to tap local resources.

“We’re losing this planet, and we have an evil government,” Chouinard said. “Not just the federal government—the wacko politicians out of Utah and places. I mean, it’s evil. I’m not going to stand back and just let evil win,” he added.

"We’ve fought to protect these places since we were founded and now we’ll continue that fight in the courts." —Rose Marcario, President and CEO, @patagonia

A post shared by Patagonia (@patagonia) on Dec 4, 2017 at 3:54pm PST

San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman expressed his support for shrinking the monuments. He told CNN that he wants to protect the areas in question and that existing regulations already do so, but pointed out that tourists descending on the areas can create problems.

In 1984, Patagonia opened an on-site cafeteria offering “healthy, mostly vegetarian food,” and started providing on-site child care.

In 1986, Chouinard committed the company to “tithing” for environmental activism, committing one percent of sales or 10 per cent of profits, whichever is the greater. The commitment included paying employees working on local environmental projects so they could commit their efforts full-time.

In the early 1990s, an environmental audit of Patagonia revealed the surprising result that cotton was the worst product for the environment. In 1996, Chouinard committed the company to using all organic cotton.

In 2014, Patagonia supported the advocacy documentary film DamNation, which is about changing attitudes in America towards its dams. Chouinard was the executive producer of the film, and he was also featured in the film commenting about dams.

Seven Chouinard First Ascents
1961: Southwest Buttress (The Beckey/Chouinard) of South Howser Tower in Bugs with Fred Beckey.
1961: North Face of Mount Edith Cavell in the Canadian Rockies with with Fred Beckey and Dan Doody.
1962: Northeast Face of Disappointment Peak in Teton Range with with Tom Frost.
1964: North American Wall on El Capitan with with Royal Robbins, Tom Frost and Chuck Pratt.
1965: Muir Wall on El Capitan with TM Herbert.
1968: Southwest Ridge aka California Route on Fitzroy with Doug Tompkins, Lito Tejada-Flores, Chris Jones and Dick Dorworth for the thirrd ascent of peak.
1975: Diamond Couloir (direct finish) on Mount Kenya with Michael Covington.