"The national park is the best idea America ever had," said James
Bryce, British Ambassador to the U.S., in 1912. Indeed, America's vast system of protected
public lands-our National Parks, National Forests and Grasslands and other federal
publicly-owned land-has long been the envy of the world. Our public estate is a stunning
spread of 655 million acres (almost one-third of which is in Alaska), bequeathed to us by
the foresight of generations of American conservationists beginning with Teddy Roosevelt.
All Americans - even those who don't own a car or a house - own these vast expanses of
wild places and open spaces. What a birthright!
Yet this Independence Day finds some of these natural - and national - treasures
at a crossroads. Increasingly, these places - from the forest-cloaked mountains of the
Southeast to the rugged peaks of the Rockies to the towering ancient forests of the
Northwest and Alaska - offer an escape from the frenzy of modern life, not to mention
unparalleled recreational opportunities, jobs, clean water and wildlife habitat. But the
retreat and refuge of these cherished places is not guaranteed. We are fast approaching
the point where no place is sacred, where no part of America is safe from drilling,
logging or development.
What we are learning is that no place - despite is official designation,
environmental value or storied past - is ever completely protected. Many of the places we
thought - and trusted - were protected are not. Hard won wilderness designations, many of
them the product of decades of effort, are being undermined, ignored and rendered
meaningless. Adding the word "National" to the name of a forest, park or
seashore was once a certainty of protection. That is no longer true.
Our National Forests-not national timberlands, by the way-are now at risk for
logging and roadbuilding in some of their most sensitive and remote areas. The most recent
revoking of the landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule would put over 58 million acres
of such land at risk, areas which are the source of much of our clean naturally-filtered
drinking water, which provide unequalled opportunities for prime hunting and fishing, and
which serve as among the few remaining laboratories for natural processes at work.
Here in Virginia, without a national roadless area protection policy and under
the new management plan, over 313,000 of the Washington and Jefferson National Forests'
387,000 roadless acres are at risk from logging and roadbuilding. The new rule outlined by
the administration in Washington would also saddle the taxpayers of Virginia with the
financial burden of petitioning the federal government to protect them. Governor Warner
has indicated his intention to protect these special places, but he needs our support to
do so.
Barriers to drill for oil and gas underneath certain National Parks and National
Forests are quickly eroding. The timber industry is watching as its wish list - complete
with logging our last wild forests - is fulfilled. And oil and gas companies are
salivating at the prospect of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off our
coasts. Our National Parks are not spared development threats, either. The proposed
37-mile North Shore Road thru the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains would not only
forever alter our park but would cost taxpayers well over a whopping $500 million. Whether
it involves filling in America's wetlands, citing oil rigs in the most environmentally
sensitive areas, chopping down our forests, or paving over our last open spaces, corporate
interests are developing and destroying our land for their private gain.
All across America, communities are working to protect, preserve, and restore
wild lands and neighborhood special places. While the terrain changes from state to state,
the reason to protect these special places remains the same - they have been left in trust
to us to keep whole and safe for generations to come.
Despite these challenges, we can, as Americans, take responsibility for America.
Nationwide, Sierra Club is working with faith, labor, native, sportsmen and other local
groups to save open spaces, leave trees standing, keep communities intact, and connect
citizens with their neighbors in order to care for our lands and wildlife. Americans are
uniting to protect wild, unspoiled America, to keep these special places safe, whole and
in trust for the generations to come. By exercising democracy we can ensure every
citizen's voice matters, and make certain that local and federal agencies are responsive
to you and your neighborhood. Working together we can solve problems, protect our Virginia
Wild Forests and pass on to future generations those spacious skies, majestic mountains
and shining seas that make America beautiful.
###
David Muhly
Regional Representative
Sierra Club - Appalachian Region
10501 East Bluegrass Trail, Ste 2 Bland, VA 24315
(276) 688-2190 (276)
david.muhly@sierraclub.org
