LAT: Proposed Revisions of National Park Policy Cause Stir

[DeepModem Mom]

Outrage overload! Will this cabal leave anything in our country untouched and unexploited?


Proposed Revisions of National Park Policy Cause Stir
By Julie Cart, Times Staff Writer


A series of proposed revisions of National Park policy has created furor among present and former park officials who believe the changes would weaken protections of natural resources and wildlife while allowing an increase in commercial activity, snowmobiles and off-road vehicles.

National Park Service employees warn that the changes, which were proposed by the Department of Interior and are now undergoing a park service review, would fundamentally alter the agency's primary mission.

"They are changing the whole nature of who we are and what we have been," said J.T. Reynolds, superintendent of Death Valley National Park. "I hope the public understands that this is a threat to their heritage. It threatens the past the present and the future. It's painful to see this."

The potential changes would allow cell phone towers, low flying tour planes and renewed mining claims into parks where they were previously prohibited, according to Bill Wade, the former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park.

Larry Whalon, chief of Resource Management at Mojave National Preserve, said the changes would take away managers' ability to use laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act to oppose new developments in parks....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-parks26aug26,0,7654249.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Erika]

1. Bush's legacy

Destroy America

[Robeson]

2. It really is. They do absolutely nothing positive....

...If it can be exploited, or ruined, they'll do it. They're totally consistent in this.

[ninkasi]

22. You're right...

Now it seems to be not so much policy as a deliberate act to see how much of America he can destroy, just to know he has the power to do it. Apparently the death and pain he's caused with his war hasn't been enough to satisfy his sadistic nature.

I'm afraid he'll keep escalating the acts of destruction, in order to maintain whatever kind of ego boost he gets from having power. Men like him should never be in any position of authority. It's scary, but we have to face the fact that our country is currently being controlled by a sociopath, who appears headed for a meltdown as his schemes keep falling apart.

[katty]

14. bush entitlement: i own America-i do anything i want

[expatriot]

3. Bush's unholy war on our public sector. nt

[pinniped]

4. There are no beliefs here, these pieces of shit have been working...

to weaken every single piece of environmental protection rule there is. From wild salmon, to forests, to wildlife, everything is in danger. Every week a new story comes out and they all sound just like this one.

After these evil pieces of shit get run out of town, all environmental rules, regulations, and laws that have been weakened, will have to be put back into place.

This country will take more than 100 years to recover from the damage these pieces of shit have already caused. Unfortunately, some species are already being run off the planet and may not be here in 100 years.

I still remember, one of the sickest things these pieces of shit proposed was to renew the ivory trade and begin the hunting of endangered animals. Disgusting, sick bastards.

[WePurrsevere]

5. Interesting - NYTs "eliminated.... reference to the theory of Evolution"

From: New York Times (free email subscription) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/politics/26park.html?th&emc=th

bolding mine
<snip>
The 194 pages of revisions to the park service's basic policy document suggested by Paul Hoffman, a deputy assistant secretary of the department, could have opened up new opportunities for off-road use of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles throughout the park system, including Yellowstone National Park, whose roads the Interior Department has kept open to snowmobiles.

Mr. Hoffman's proposals often involved seemingly minor word changes but their effect was nonetheless sweeping. Illegal uses, Mr. Hoffman proposed, must "irreversibly" harm park resources, instead of just harming them. Instead of obligating managers to eliminate impairments to park resources, he proposed that they should "adequately mitigate or eliminate" the problems.

The draft was part of an effort to re-evaluate the park service's core mission and illustrated the continuing tension between the need to preserve park resources and the desire to make them available to the broadest possible public.

The draft would also have added potential hurdles to the procedures for designating new parks. And in its discussion of park service system resources and educational programs, it would have eliminated virtually every reference to the theory of evolution.
</snip>

re: first bold statement: "eliminate impairments to park resources" changed to "adequately mitigate.... " how does this make the parks more "available to the broadest possible public"? It could also potentially be in conflict with the ADA and reads a bit like, 'don't do just try as much as you want to'.

re: second bold statement: "added potential hurdles to the procedures for designating new parks" I'd like to know what those hurdles would be and why are they needed except to potentially allow money to be made for loggers, oil drillers, etc,

and finally re: the third bold statement: "it would have eliminated virtually every reference to the theory of evolution". Eliminating Science in presentations about Geology and Nature... I don't even know where to begin but then again I'm admittedly a bit of an odd duck in that I don't see why creationism (not necessarily the Judeo-Christian version) and evolution can't both have truth to them... sort of the Divine(s) got the big bang "ball" rolling and then stepped back and watched with maybe a tiny puff of air to steer it slightly now and then.

[salin]

6. What is the surprise here - bushco has spent five years

making public resources the personal playground and piggy bank for the obscenely wealthy.

[screembloodymurder]

7. This administration must go.

We can't wait for 2008.

[GoBlue]

8. Only in Orwellia would...

"Conservatives" promote such revisions.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. A very apt statement, GoBlue. nt

[HuckleB]

9. I voted to put this on the Greatest page: THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Our parks are being neglected as it is. This is a great invention of this nation, a part of our heritage that cannot afford the abuse the Bushies want to inflict upon it.

[ozone_man]

11. I hate those tour flights.

He noted that seemingly obscure issues such as the requirement for maintaining a dark night sky and preserving quiet would no longer be emphasized.

"We know how important these things are for animals," Galvin said. "Birds use the night sky to navigate and animals need to hear each other. This version, as I understand it, doesn't recognize the biological values of those things and it eliminates them as visitor amenities."

Sheer idiocy. This takes me back to James Watt days. Is no wilderness safe from mining, logging, off road vehicles, and those idiotic tour flights?

[Up2Late]

24. James Watt seems almost moderate compared to these clowns

What I haven't read yet in the quotes here is what was reported yesterday on the Radio on PRI's MarketPlace.

They said that under the proposed changes, "Certain Park usages would no longer be banned unless they Irreversibly Harm the Park" Which would mostly open the Parks up to Logging, Mining, Oil Drilling etc.

[HuckleB]

12. Kick.

[seafan]

13. Three words: BUSH MUST GO.

Let's face the facts with this regime:

They will NEVER change their behavior. They do not *negotiate* with anyone who is against them; they do not suddenly *realize* they are hurting many people; they have no respect for that quaint *rule of law*.

It's our responsibility to remove them from power. It's staring us squarely in our faces.


Please vote up for greatest page. As many people as possible need to read this article.

[seafan]

15. Kick. n/t

[Singular73]

16. LOL, Bush doesn't care

Look, to Bush, things like this are algorithmic.

Step 1)

Get Elected. Throw money at Step 1 until one is elected (really, anyone with enough money can).

Step 2)

Make buddies rich. "Handle" public opinion by using handlers to promote and repeat spin.

Step 3)

Retire Richer than previously. Understand that the next 20 generations of Bushes will never have to work a day in their lives.

[VegasWolf]

17. Surprised he's not pushing for "canned" hunting in the parks. nt

[Gregorian]

18. Bring in the chainsaws and bulldozers- This country's for sale.

To the highest bidder.

Actually, they've already begun this. Logging in the parks began several years ago. Don't know the details. Just happened to see it with my own eyes.

[Mythsaje]

19. Teddy Roosevelt

is spinning like a lathe in his grave right now.

[Jara sang]

20. I am tearing up reading this.

Is nothing sacred to these people? Nothing?

[HuckleB]

21. keek.

[PinkyisBlue]

23. Wild Mustangs

I read somewhere that this administration is against legislation offering protection to herds of wild mustangs out west (if there are any herds left), because the horses compete with the cattle for grass. Anything that stands in the way of money and profit has got to go.

Only one seven letter word will save the natural (and economic) resources of our country: IMPEACH Bush!