Editor's note: The following was written by Audrey Peterman, an author, speaker, and advocate reconnecting people to nature, promoting enjoyment and stewardship of our public lands. It initially appeared on the Huffington Post.
While the 413 places and approximately 85 million acres protected in our National Park System belong to the American people, a significant number are so important to the entire human family that they sit atop the world’s greatest conservation lists: World Heritage Site, (22) Biosphere Reserve, (23) and Ramsar International Convention of Wetlands, (2). They are among the rarest of the rare on Planet Earth, of the same stature as the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Galapagos Islands among others. So what happens to our national parks and public lands affects not just America but the world.
I started thinking about this a few weeks ago when we ran into our longtime friend Babacar M’Bow, nephew of Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow, the African who spearheaded many of these designations in his term as Secretary General of UNESCO from 1974 -1987. The legacy of mankind since we first emerged from the caves and sat around a campfire is desperately at stake in our upcoming elections.
Though Glacier National Park is a World Heritage Site among other unique designations, intrusive noise from helicopter tour operators is a big issue that our friends at Quiet Glacier need our help to correct/NPS
The Democratic and Republican parties have starkly opposing views of what “public lands” should mean. The Democrats' conservation platform calls for collaborative stewardship similar to what we’ve been advancing through the Next100 Coalition. The Republican candidate scoffs at climate change and the platform aims to raid our public lands treasury and withdraw large swaths, with no benefit to the nation. So the future of our children and all the children of the world will be enhanced or greatly diminished, depending upon who is elected.
This brought me moments of extreme poignancy over the past week when we visited our grandchildren. Looking into the bright eyes of an 11-year-old who builds robots and computers, worships Elon Musk and still loves to roller board and play hide-and-seek with his friends, I felt a pang:
Am I doing everything I can and should to secure an environment in which he can live out his dreams as our ancestors did for us? In the future will he have to wear a face mask or carry oxygen when he goes out? It wasn’t so long ago that we didn’t have to buy bottled water.
I also saw vividly how the actions of our predecessors affects us today when I attended Homecoming at Morehouse College with Frank and spent time with many of his classmates, now in (or approaching) their 80s. The alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a few miles from his birth home protected in Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site was teeming with the happy expectant faces of young men, joined by the beautiful young women from neighboring Spelman College.
Entering the Morehouse School of Medicine building for the alumni breakfast, I was elated to see a sign promoting an upcoming Hike Out to Cascade Springs Nature Preserve, an activity we helped spearhead many years ago as part of the Keeping It Wild program. We connected with Frank’s first roommate at Morehouse and lifelong friend, Dr. Wilbur Leaphart, an educator who revolutionized the middle school system and served as Chair of KIW for several years.
At the President’s Brunch we met a young rear admiral who told us that our son Frank Jr., was the Morehouse Man who “made him” in their fraternity. While he and Frank talked Morehouse, his wife and I talked about what national parks were easily accessible on their trips across the country, other than the ones they already visited.
Rear Admiral Alvin Holsey talked Morehouse with Frank while his wife and I talked national parks.
Over drinks that night with two longtime Morehouse friends, I saw the light come on in Frank’s eyes as we walked down memory lane and he realized how he was tapped to go to Morehouse. One of his classmates recently retired as the Chief Design Engineer for a multi-billion dollar US Army Combat Systems program after a hugely successful career. The other chuckled when he told us how he got his Morehouse nickname, “Iron Stomach.”
“We were protesting the food and ‘mystery meat’ so it was agreed that all of us would walk out and not eat it,” he said. “But I had no choice. I had to eat it because I didn’t have 50 cents to buy a chicken sandwich off campus.” Later he was invited to the Dean’s house and to his amazement, they were eating the same food. In his career as a plastic surgeon he was at one point among the 350 highest qualified in the land. Living in Seattle they are big fans of our national parks. All three Morehouse men said there was no doubt that Morehouse was the turning point in their lives.
As I listened, I remembered Bill O’Reilly a few years ago saying he was shocked to find that Black-owned Sylvia’s restaurant in New York was just like any other restaurant, and no one was using expletives or yelling for food. The current Republican presidential candidate reveals a deplorably similar lack of awareness about Black lives and seems to get his ideas about his countrymen and women from sitcoms/reality TV. How would those two stack up at this table, I wondered? How does the calculated trumpeting of derogatory falsehoods about non-white Americans distort our perception of each other?
The grave conflict underway at Standing Rock involving First Nations striving to protect their sacred land demonstrates what happens when corporate “rights” are made to trump human rights and indigenous cultural practices. Though Standing Rock is not a national park, it isn’t difficult to imagine the damage that a pipeline can do to faraway ecosystems. The indigenous people are calling for help from all who respect their cause.
In the remaining months of President Obama’s term, our Next100 Coalition is pressing for him to establish the Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston, AL, for all the reasons Frank listed here. More than 500 people showed up last week to speak in favor, to the satisfaction of the four surviving Freedom Riders and their allies.
This may be the last time I write before that fateful date November 8. I pray that each one of us will exercise our right to vote, and do so in a way that is responsible to the future of our public lands treasures, our country and our world.
Follow Audrey Peterman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Audreypete
Comments
That's fine. At the end of the day, I choose to not live with my head buried in the sand. Obviously, reality can be confusing to some. I saw the signs when I lived in Sun Valley, and I see it now in the Southeast - global warming is occuring and the changes are evident. Whether it's a once great river that is nothing more than a trickle during peak flow periods thanks to a prolonged decade long drought, or a lack of snowfall in the higher elevations of the Appalachians that used to face more prominent winters, the signs are there. Of course as time goes on, the deniers are not as large in number, just a lot more vocal.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-sej-mountain-climate-change-20150728...
In the end....a Trump presidency will be like the Bush presidency in that we will lose another decade as the policies push us into another era of regression. Trump brings nothing to the table and his lack of vision, especially in regards to science and conservation was evident during the debates. He's just a prostitute and conman for the gambling industry, and has zero experience in government. I'm not a fan of cheesy casinos, and when it comes to visionary business leaders, Trump is no Elon Musk.
I will still vote for Hillary, because even if she goes down, i'll take Kaine anyday over Trump or Pence. I'm voting for Kaine.
Kurt..I find it equally laughable when the paper complains about those of us who take every tax deduction possible...then asserts something was illegal when the law changed. Who cares if attorneys said don't do it...if it is legal and nothing says it wasn't what is the issue. Charlie Ringel owned millions to the IRS...where was/is the NYT outrage? The emails on the corruption between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department, the FBI "heads up" and Hillary, the private email server and destruction of tens of thousands of emails, the immunity given to 5 people directly involved in the email server and destruction of emails, one of who destroyed emails weeks after a subpeona was issued,etc., where is the outrage from the NYT?
Name one event where Trump supporters blocked highways, turned over cars, were confrontational with police, started a riot!!! No, it was Bernie/Hillary supporters. There are documents that prove the Democrats, in their effort to get Hillary elected, send interns or union hacks to create problems at Trump rallies...where is the outrage from the NYT? Where is the out rage from the NYT on the minipulation of the Democratic primary?
State Run Media!!! There are so many Pulitzer Prize winning stories about Bill and Hillary criminal acts it is unbelievable but not one NYT reporters are pursuing. Do you think the NYT bosses are supressing their investigations?
I understand your political views are to the left but Hillary'scorrupt actions are so apparent and overwhelming it is difficult for me to believe you don"t see it, even worse don't believe it.
I see that none of you has been reading 25 MYTHS THAT ARE DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT: WHAT MANY ENVIRONMENTALISTS BELIEVE AND WHY THEY ARE WRONG, by Daniel B. Botkin. The key word is believe. A belief has nothing to do with science, whether political science or anything else. A belief is rather something we sell to one another, as in "I believe in God." Do I have to believe in Him if you have no proof, or rather if the proof is incomplete? Not to get caught up in climate change, but the proof is incomplete. Green leaves on the trees don't prove a thing, other than winter is late. I remember late winters when I was a kid, and lots of early springs. We welcomed then both, as I recall. Winter in upstate New York was generally brutal.
The animals and trees will migrate, provided they have the habitat. But no, that is all going under asphalt--and no one talks of that.
Instead, they talk of our giving up the best idea we ever had. Believe, brethren, believe, that if we don't we will all roast to death. Just don't see the billions we are making "selling" you on the idea that this is science.
And dare someone disagree, tar and feather him in the press. Call him every name in the book. Burn the witch! We have the figures, and 99 percent agree with us.
Baloney they do. They just know better, which is why the polls are skewed in the election, too. Who in their right mind would ever disagree with the "American Press" that Hillary Clinton is not a saint?
Well, I disagree, and my disagreement is based on facts. When the Ozarks ran with chicken entrails, blood, and fecal matter, Secretary Clinton didn't give a damn. So, yes, let's get back on the subject of how she will treat the national parks. Yes, her appointments might be better, but Bruce Babbitt is also yesterday's news. There is nothing directly in Secretary Clinton's record that indicates her choices will be as good--or better.
Fortunately, on Wednesday this will all be over, unless the election is thrown into the House. Today, according to Rasmussen Reports, both candidates remain neck in neck. So, pick your poison, but again, don't call it sainthood. These days, we are far removed from that, and yes, Kurt, THE NEW YORK TIMES is no less complicit in waving the Bloody Shirt.
Alfred, I don't think many people that read this forum will disagree with you that paving the world in asphault, or cutting down massive swaths of forests is benefiting the situation. I think that is evident and many of us DO fight against that from happening.
And yes, green leaves still hanging on the trees is a data point, that can pinpoint signs to many environmental factors, especially if the peak color date starts to extend later and later over the next decade..
Well, now we know Alfred is one of the sceptics of Climate Change. That explains some things!
Frankly, I note that none of the skeptics have lived in Alaska, where the changes are obvious all about you.
Concerned,
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/us/politics/hillary-clinton-presidenti...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/chappatte-on-hillary-clintons-...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/us/politics/clinton-trump-investigatio...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/us/fbi-james-comey-hillary-clinton.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/03/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-20...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/02/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-20...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/01/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-20...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/us/politics/dnc-wikileaks-emails-fundr...
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/18/sanders-campaign-...
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/22/us/clinton-got-list-of-rich-donors-for...
And it goes on and on. As I said earlier, neither of these nominees are what we'd like to see.
P.S. -- Just hit the "save" key once.
Skeptics is spelled with a k, argalite, and actually has a religious connotation. Webster's: "1. an adherent or advocate of skepticism. 2. a person disposed to skepticism esp. regarding religion or religious principles."
Why did the media choose skeptic over heretic? Because those pretending to be "objective" prefer being subtle. Heretic says it boldly, while skeptic says it between the lines. Heretic: "1. a dissenter from established church dogma esp. a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows a revealed truth 2. one who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine: NONCONFORMIST"
Just how did these words come to be applied to SCIENCE? In science, when I disagree, I am not "dissenting" about anything. I am rather pointing to my facts. The whole idea of "dissent" when applied to science makes a mockery of science itself.
So yes, the media ignores the proper words, because the proper words require wisdom and thought. It's all about sound bites, now.
I don't "dissent" from global warming. I rather ask what is the proper response. Make it worse by losing our public lands? How will that solve the problem?
Meanwhile, it is perfectly legitimate that scientists "discuss" what exactly is the problem. If they didn't, it wouldn't be science. Words like dissenter, skeptic, and heretic are for religion and not for science.
So no, I am not a skeptic. But yes, I am a Doctor of Philosophy, and know the difference between words that inform a discussion rather than defend someone's personal agenda or belief.
As you say, argalite, I hope that "explains some things!" Certainly, today it explains how word choice can make or break an argument, which again has little to do with science.