With the Democratic National Convention under way, and the Republican National Convention soon to follow, it's natural to wonder what these two parties are thinking of in terms of the environment in general and national parks specifically.
Of course, earlier this year the Traveler touched on where Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama stood on national parks in response to questions from the National Parks Conservation Association.
At that time Senator Barack Obama said he believed the National Park Service needed more funding, but didn't make any suggestions on how that might be accomplished. Senator John McCain, however, voiced support of the president's Centennial Initiative, which is intended to generate $3 billion for the National Park Service by the agency's centennial in 2016 but isn't yet on pace to reach that goal.
Where do things stand today? Well, although there doesn't seem to be an available draft of the Republican Party's platform, the Democratic Party's draft platform (attached below) does make mention of both public lands in general and the parks specifically:
We will create a new vision for conservation that works with local communities to conserve our existing publicly-owned lands while dramatically expanding investments in conserving and restoring forests, grasslands, and wetlands across America for generations to come. Unlike the current Administration, we will reinvest in our nation's forests by providing the federal agencies with resources to reduce the threat of wildland fires, promote sustainable forest product industries for rural economic development and ensure that national resources are in place to respond to catastrophic wildland fires. We will treat our national parks with the same respect that millions of families show each year when they visit. We will recognize that our parks are national treasures, protected for special values, and will ensure that they are protected as part of the overall natural system so they are here for generations to come. We are committed to conserving the lands used by hunters and anglers, and we will open millions of new acres of land to public hunting and fishing.
Sounds nice in general, but, again, there are no specifics.
Against that backdrop, NPCA is mounting a public awareness campaign that includes a petition Americans can sign urging the next president and the incoming Congress to provide greater federal funding and protections for the National Park System. The campaign includes radio ads featuring actors Amy Madigan and Sam Waterston and print ads featuring Petrified Forest National Park and the National Mall as examples of national parks nationwide in need of greater funding.
A nationwide survey (attached below) conducted for NPCA earlier this year by Peter Hart Research Associates showed that 76 percent of respondents were much more or somewhat more likely to support a presidential candidate who has a strong commitment to protecting national parks; 83 percent of respondents indicated that it was extremely or quite important for the federal government to protect and support national parks such as Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and the Everglades.
The print and radio public service advertisements, developed by the PlowShare Group, Inc., are being distributed to magazines, newspapers, and radio stations nationwide.
"Americans expect the federal government to take care of our national parks," says NPCA President Tom Kiernan. "We’ll be looking to the new administration and Congress to fulfill that promise."
Comments
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, now also the Vice Presidential nominee for the Republican Party, is opposed by organizations like the League of Conservation Voters and spokes-figures like Gene Karpinski primarily because she (in order of importance):
Therefore, she is attacked as an environmental horror-story ... and no doubt, desecrater of National Parks. More accurately, though, objections to her on environmental grounds and out of concern for the Alaska Nat'l Parks, is something of a Trojan Horse.
Actually, it's simply partisan politics as usual, both the League & Karpinski and their abundant company, functioning in the practical sense as informal but important Political Action Committees for the Democratic Party.
Some may think that I am overstating or whining. Consider then, please, that exactly the same dynamic & relationship applies to Womens' Groups, who are also liberal, left-wind surrogates for the Democrats. Conservative women are treated as traitors by women's group.
The real reason for attacking Sarah Palin on the basis of National Interest Lands, Polar Bears, ANWR, etc., is much more realistically that she is a strong, conservative, attractive Republican who has the potential to threaten the Democratic candidate in the Presidential election.
Sarah Palin will motivate many people who would otherwise just go hunting & fishing, riding ATVs & snowmobiles, eating venison stew (and dreaming of moose stew), cleaning their firearms, etc., to instead overcome their desultory view of John McCain, and go to the polls for him come November.
Obviously, the Liberal-Left is very concerned about the way Palin affects the political balance.
The actual situation in Alaska with respect to the Federal Gov'mt and the Parks, is that the Alaska Constitution and the ANILCA Alaska National Land Claims Act of Congress are in direct conflict, and Alaska has for many years found it in their interest to maintain that conflict. Several years ago, the Fed took the unprecedented step of assuming broad Federal jurisdiction over Alaska's fish & wildlife resources, primarily to enact the Subsistence Provision of ANILCA.
Alaska is now handled in part as a Territory, rather than a State.
Although Subsistence proceeds only partly in & around Parks, this portion of the issue disproportionally influences National Parks management in Alaska.
Sarah Palin is of course not really out to pave the wilderness and exterminate the bears - on the contrary, Alaska seeks to expand & protect these assets because they know perfectly well that in the long run tourism is worth a lot more to them than the oil & gas.
Remember, Alaska's formulas & policies actually work: The place is overrun with bears, wolves, moose, caribou, and Wilderness. Large carnivores and massive ungulates not only occupy the entire sub-continent, but infest the streets & backyards of Alaska's cities & towns!
Palin the enviro-monster? That's what some would like you to think ...