SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State tourism officials are promoting the new Bears Ears National Monument on their website despite a push by Gov. Gary Herbert and other top leaders to have it rescinded.
Vicki Varela, the managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, said Monday that the state had already been promoting some of the natural features of the Bears Ears area before it was declared a national monument.
She says there’s a greater focus on the website because of the monument, including a page dedicated to the 1.35-million-acre monument in the Four Corners region of southeastern Utah.
Varela spoke to reporters alongside Gov. Gary Herbert about a new university report shows tourism spending in Utah hit a record of $8.17 billion in 2015.
Herbert said he didn’t know whether the state would plan to promote Bears Ears National Monument to tourists. He says he and some Native Americans are concerned about attracting visitors who will trample on the sacred lands.