Cape Karen
Since I've decided to become an 'armchair activist,' and have signed-on with various citizen groups who are fighting the good fight to keep Congress on its toes and to stop the government from passing legislation that is environmentally unfriendly, my name is now on the mailing lists of such notables as Robert Redford, the Kennedys and others who are trying to combat what the Bush administraton is doing, day-by-day and hour-by-hour, to harm the country and put our future in jeopardy.
Just yesterday I received a notice from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. informing me that the Bush administration is now trying to get Congressional approval to sell our National Park lands ~ to raise money for their bankrupt coffers. Evidently, there are two bills heading to Congress written by George W. - one of which could forever change the law which protects our National Park and Forests from such outrageous exploitation. (The way the law reads now, the proceeds from any lands sold within our National Parks is to be used only to procure more protected public lands.)
I found this news so utterly unbelievable that I decided to do some online research. I went to the US Forestry site, and there it was ~ a state-by-state listing of Nat'l Park and forestry lands, from California to Virginia, that will be put up for sale if these bills are passed under FY 2007. The McDonald and Walmart CEO's are licking their chops; and, as we speak . . . the big-name timeshare developer's, like Disney and Hilton, are getting ready to pounce.
Here is what the National Resource Defense Coalition has to say about this matter:
"In a reckless attempt to cover its own budgetary mishaps, the Bush Administration is proposing the sale of 1,250 square miles of national forests and public wildlands - an area the size of Yosemite National Park - to logging companies, real estate developers and other private interests. This raid on our public real estate would sacrifice stretches of three NRDC BioGems which include prime habitats in Greater Yellowstone for bears, elk and wolves; popular recreation spots in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, wildlife-rich ecosystems in the Greater Cumberland Plateau regions and hundreds of other natural treasures across the country.
The first of two Bush Administration proposals calls for auctioning off 300,000 acres of irreplaceable national forest lands that span 35 states, in a shortsighted approach to fund - for five more years - an already failing 'rural schools' program. In doing this, California alone would lose 75,000 acres of its national forest lands. The second scheme would enable this and future administrations to sell off hundreds of thousands of acres of public wildlands that are now overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forestry Department, and to use the proceeds for budget deficit reduction."
If this legislation does go through, we can expect to see - as we head into our National Parks - hundreds of garish billboards lining our way ~ advertising new motels, casinos, entertainment facilities, strip mall shops, and restaurants. No longer will these lands be the pristine and beautiful wilderness areas we all cherish so much. No longer will we be comforted to know that there are still places we can go to escape the 'tackiness' and gross materialism that assaults our senses on a daily basis. If this happens, our children and grandchildren will only see our National Parks, as they are today, in outdated picture books and old movies.
I just have to believe that a public outcry will prevent this latest Bush administration 'environmental terrorism' attack from happening - now, and in the future. There are some things that should never be for sale ~ and our National Parks and forestlands should be forever on that list ~ as was intended by those who set aside and donated these lands to the public trust in the first place.