Revisiting our history – it is time – so we can avoid an American tragedy…
Forgetting our history is setting the stage for an American tragedy. The tragedy being the potential, significant, loss of public lands due to transfer to States or privatization through sale.
Loss because many of our politicians and fellow citizens have forgotten or are naïve about the origin and evolution of these lands. And why large areas of our country have remained in the public domain.
Our public lands history is not simple. Nor is it without controversy. But it is rich. And it has allowed our great nation to prosper AND be the envy of the world.
“The story of America’s public lands is essentially the history of the nation. It is a story of victories and defeats, of hopes and disappointments, of justice and injustices, of men and women looking for better lives, of men and women fighting to keep the lives they have known. It is a story written in blood, sweat, and tears, on landscapes of indescribable beauty and richness.” (Stephen Maurer & Ellen Dornan 2007).
Unfortunately, the pace of this potential American tragedy is, seemingly, accelerating at a logarithmic rate!
Scan any form of media to easily observe that greed and selfishness are once again jeopardizing one of our most important and cherished national treasures – public lands spread across our prosperous and enviable country. Public lands that are particularly located in the West.
From Manifest Destiny to national treasures…
Considerable concern arose amongst our citizenry in the days of Manifest Destiny over the pillage and plunder of natural resources. Most notable was uncontrolled or improperly managed logging, grazing and mining. This pillage and plunder was causing irreplaceable and irretrievable loss of natural resources because of greed and selfishness by corporations and individuals.
That real and measurable angst, fortunately, led to setting aside portions of the public domain, through Federal law, for very specific purposes.
Lands to be managed by the national Park Service “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations“.
Lands to be managed by the national Forest Service to, originally, ensure a continuous supply of timber and favorable conditions of water flow. And later, for the greatest good for the greatest number through multiple use management. Through what is known by some as the five W’s – wood, water, wildlife, [w]recreation, and [w]range.
Lands to be managed by the national Fish and Wildlife service “dedicated by the American people to preserving, for themselves and their children, as much of our native wildlife as can be retained along with our modern civilization“.
And finally, the lands that nobody else wanted, the “lands that remain from America’s original “public domain“”, to be managed by the national Bureau of Land Management.
Envy of the world…
Our public lands are, without a doubt, the envy of the world. Envy because we are a rich nation and can afford to set aside and manage some of our vast real estate for the benefit of all of our citizens.
Try what we’ve been able to do over the last 150 years anywhere else in today’s world. Anywhere in Europe or the Middle East for example! Or in parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. It’s impossible because such real estate either no longer exists or is significantly reduced in size and areal extent.
One only has to visit our public lands to observe and appreciate the world’s envy. Visitors to our public lands are not only Americans. They are a diverse mix of ethnicity and culture from throughout the world. Peoples that travel to our national treasures because they don’t have such treasures in their homeland.
Why in the world would we want to change our uniqueness? Why on earth would we want to no longer prosper and be the world’s envy? For greed and selfishness?
I certainly hope not!
My plea for the benefit of future generations…
February 21st, 2018
To my fellow citizens that are county commissioners, community leaders, and State and Federal-level politicians:
When you go to work tomorrow to deal with the myriad of issues that are on your over-flowing plate, please dedicate some time to revisiting our public lands history. Do this to either refresh your memory or eliminate your ignorance. You’d be surprised what an hour or two will do. Or even 30 minutes if that is all the time you have.
Take this time to prevent an American tragedy. An American tragedy that will make our great and prosperous country an international embarrassment rather than the envy.
Sincerely,
Gregory S. Bevenger
.