Canyon Coolers: Legislative attack on Arizona’s public lands is bad for business

Opinion piece written by Jason Costello

As a local business owner deeply rooted in Arizona's outdoor industry, I feel compelled to speak out against the alarming legislative assault on our public lands. A package of eight anti-public lands bills that are currently making their way through our state legislature would threaten our state’s $21.1 billion outdoor recreation economy, infringe on basic private property rights, and overlook the economic benefits of public lands. They’re bad for business – especially homegrown ones rooted in the outdoors.

At Canyon Coolers, we know that Arizonans love the outdoors – polling shows that 59% of Arizona residents participate in outdoor recreation every year. Our business was founded on, and has grown year after year, based on that love of spending time in the outdoors. Arizona’s current land use is balanced, and even allows for mineral extraction in the majority of cases.

Canyon Coolers directly and indirectly employees 50 people, generating almost $10M in revenue annually. I can tell you New Jersey Turnpike Coolers would not have the same ring. Like every other local outdoor company our fate is tied to Arizona's natural beauty.

If passed, the anti-public lands bills at the legislature would restrict our freedom to access our taxpayer-owned public lands. They would also increase the red tape around outdoor recreation while limiting what people can do with their own private property. Falling short of our independent values

I’m pro-business and pro-small government; these bills are the opposite of that. They are an overreach that would potentially take money out of our local businesses while increasing our state deficit and restricting the development of our outdoor recreation economy.

Arizona's public lands are the bedrock of a robust outdoor economy, generating a staggering $21.2 billion in consumer spending annually. This economic engine supports over 201,000 jobs, providing $5.7 billion in wages and salaries while contributing $1.4 billion in state and local tax revenue. These figures underscore the vital role public lands play in driving Arizona's economic prosperity – and in supporting local businesses like ours. In fact, more Arizona jobs depend on outdoor recreation than the combined sectors of aerospace, defense, and technology.

These eight misguided bills: HB2022, HB2376, HB2377, HCM2004, HCM2006, HCM2007, HCM2008, HCM2005, at best represent a distracting overreach from the state, and at its worst represent an egregious attack our public lands that not only impacts business that rely on outdoor recreation and access to our public lands, but also directly impacts on our ability to conserve wildlife and wildlife habitat for future generations. I am not sure I have ever seen a better example of being 'off in the weeds'

Rather than attacking our local outdoor industry and Arizonans’ opportunities to recreate on public lands, we should be protecting these vital resources. Conserving and protecting public lands has time and time again proven to be a smart strategy for building resilient, sustainable economies that keep our dollars in our local communities. By diversifying our economic base and leveraging our state’s incredibly unique public lands, we can create lasting prosperity while safeguarding the environment for future generations. It’s just good business.