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Reader Participation Day: How Should The Next President Of The United States Help The National Parks?

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By NPT Staff - June 27th, 2012

Come November, we get to choose the next president of the United States. President Obama might get a second term, or Mitt Romney might get his first. Whoever wins, how do you think the next president of these United States can best help the National Park System?

More funding is always nice to ask for, but Congress controls the purse strings, so even if the next president proposes to double the National Park Service's budget, Congress likely won't let that happen.

But there are things the president can do by executive order, or simply through promotion, or, barring passage of H.R. 4089, through the stroke of his pen with the backing of the Antiquities Act.

With those ground rules, what would you like to see the winner of November's election do to help the National Park System?

Comments

Submitted by Lee Dalton on June 27, 2012 - 9:20pm.

There is no official stand on public lands or energy policies to be found in Romney's campaign website. In other places, Romney seems to sidestep any direct questions about public lands. But one Utah state representative, Mike Noel, reported at a GOP fundraiser that Romney as assured him that the "Antiquities Act has probably run its course and needs to be re-examined."

One of his campaign spokespersons said this about extractive use of public lands:

"Asked whether any place would be off limits for oil drilling, campaign spokesman Andrea Saul said, “Governor Romney will permit drilling wherever it can be done safely, taking into account local concerns.”

In an interview with the Reno Gazette, Romney said:

I don’t know the reason that the federal government owns such a large share of Nevada. And when I was in Utah at the Olympics there I heard a similar refrain there. What they were concerned about was that the government would step in and say, “We’re taking this” — which by the way has extraordinary coal reserves — “and we’re not going to let you develop these coal reserves.” I mean, it drove the people nuts. Unless there’s a valid, and legitimate, and compelling governmental purpose, I don’t know why the government owns so much of this land.

So I haven’t studied it, what the purpose is of the land, so I don’t want to say, “Oh, I’m about to hand it over.” But where government ownership of land is designed to satisfy, let’s say, the most extreme environmentalists, from keeping a population from developing their coal, their gold, their other resources for the benefit of the state, I would find that to be unacceptable.


Submitted by admin on June 27, 2012 - 9:37pm.

In other words, you made it up. He has never advocated the elimination of the antiquities act.


Submitted by admin on June 28, 2012 - 6:42am.

I think money should be taken out of school budget. Everything (perhaps except math) a student could learn in the National Parks!


Submitted by admin on June 28, 2012 - 6:44am.

Well said! The President and his family should have made it their vacation spot. Would have sparked a lot of interest in our national treasures!


Submitted by admin on June 28, 2012 - 8:05am.

Sorry the link doesn't work because its pointing to your gmail box. But, I suspect that it too will fail to show that Romney wants to eliminate the Antiquities Act.


Submitted by Lee Dalton on June 28, 2012 - 8:19am.

Okay, let's try this. PEER recently published a very interesting article on Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts. Look it up.

But I have a feeling Anon wouldn't believe anything even if he heard it directly from Mitt's mouth.

Keep smiling, everyone.


Submitted by admin on June 28, 2012 - 10:06am.

If Romney really thinks resources should be developed to benefit the State instead of benefitting only free market privateers that bite the hand of the government that feeds them (through government contracts, subsidized leases of public land, patent protection, ad infinitum) then I might consider voting for him. But of course I'm being facetious.

To respond to the original question, the POTUS ought to transfer all national monuments to NPS jurisdiction via executive order a la that great American hero FDR.


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