On October 8, PRSA Greater Salt Lake Chapter held a luncheon featuring Megan Crandall, Bureau of Land Management External Affairs Chief. Weber State PRSSA had the chance to attend and listen to the presentation given by Megan Crandall.
Megan discussed the communications strategies and lessons learned from the events that occurred in Utah that evolved after an armed standoff in Nevada this spring. She discussed the increased coverage and conflict associated with an organized ATV ride on federal lands that were closed to motorized recreation in Southern Utah. These trails were closed because there were artifacts and burials left behind by Ancestral Native Americans.
Megan explained how she handled the crisis and what she thinks they could have done better. One thing Megan wished she would have done a better job of, was getting the information about the trails out quicker rather than having third party sources stirrup nonfactual information making the situation more of a problem. “If you don’t fill in the information, someone else will,” Megan stressed. On the positive side, Megan thought she did a good job of activating third party supporters. She knew the Environmentalists and Native Americans were siding with her and by using their support helped her get one step closer in controlling the crisis at hand.
