Preserving Natural America
“For whom and what are parks most important for?” This question posed by Professor Joseph Lawrence Sax, a Harvard graduate and Law Professor at University of Michigan, was written in his book, “Mountains Without Handrails” (Russell, Louis). This simple question holds significant value today as the world begins to determine what we should do with National Parks and why they’re important to modern society.
National Parks stand as a direct view into the beauty and history of the United States. The land holds many values and beliefs that as a nation, we attempt to instill in our everyday lives, but also learn from looking to never make the same mistake again. Connecting us to our most early roots on this country, these protected settlements are under great threat at this moment and the need for protection has never been greater. For so many years, land has been exploited, rivers contaminated, and species have and still are dying off. National Parks were made to prevent this and so much more. The National Park Association of NSW describes the park's purpose stating, “Although their primary purpose is the protection of biodiversity, National Parks also deliver other invaluable economic, social, cultural and health benefits”. Acknowledging this, preserving this land is paramount as we preserve of our Nation’s rich history while also make history for our nation’s children; a history that has shaped our nation into what it stands as today and will continue shaping the future of it. To further understand the importance of a National Park, one must first know the characteristics that make up a National Park. As described by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a park holds these characteristics, “One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational, and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty.” This “natural landscape of great beauty” holds more than just beauty, it contains culture; culture that has been shared since the birth of this great nation. To further understand the validity of Parks, one must know the history and reason for their making.
As stated in the International Journal of Environmental Science, “conservation in North America has proceeded through three discernible stages in the last 125 years.” The first of these discernible stages was protection; protection from over-exploitation of land but more importantly, conservation of the beauty of land.The great history of National Parks dates back to the 1870’s. Congress established Yellowstone National Park by the Act of March 1, 1872. The park was put “under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior” (National Park Service). This exclusive control focused its attention to the funding and establishment of the park. As time went on, the demand for preservation of certain lands increased due to rapid wildlife depletion and unregulated commercial harvest as affirmed by the International Journal of Environmental Science. Due to these heightened demands President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Organic Act” on August 25, 1916. This act created the U.S National Park Service; a government funded program that is responsible for protecting 417 areas all across the United States, even stretching to countries such as Puerto Rico, Guam, America Samoa, and even the Virgin Islands (nps.org). The second of these discernable stages is science and environmental regulation. Organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) and the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) have played a huge role in this discernable stage of conversation. This stage’s focal point uses science to improve government regulation through the study of plants and animals, their relationship and role in their ecosystem, and what would come of the land if not protected (International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment). The last of these discernable stages is private land protection. With new changes in policy that will be touched on, private land protection is more vital than ever. Many companies are leasing pieces of land from National Parks and are standing by exploit the land when the time presents itself. Although most territory in National Parks is now public, the areas that still remain private must be protected extensively due to the scarceness. These changes in policy were encouraged because of the vital resources that are located within the protection of region.
Much of the government regulated land residing in the Park’s settlement holds oil, coal, copper, and other vital resources. From an economic standpoint, the lands holds untapped natural resources that could be of much benefitted value to large companies looking to exploit the land for their personal gain. According to Exxon Mobil, the new owner of Yellowstone National Park, the land was purchased for nearly $3.5 billion dollars. The company pledges to only use the land for only clean, renewable energy by using the many geysers as a way to produce geothermal energy. Yellowstone was closed to the public in June of 2016 in order to build geothermal drilling rigs near all the great geysers. “Prof. Robert Houston, from the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming, has told Reuters that ExxonMobil also plans deeper drilling, to extract heat directly from the massive magma chambers” (volcanocafe.org). These plans will cause much more destruction to the land due to the excess equipment required. Although this drilling may bring in money and power to many citizens, one has to consider if the drilling is really worth it considering Yellowstone already generates a great amount of revenue without these geothermal riggs destroying the land.
On the other side of the argument, it is much more beneficial to preserve and protect the land and everything that resides in it. According to the the Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, Steve Lobst, the Park is of more economic value and gives back to the community more than most consider. “The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and National Park Service economist Lynne Koontz. The report shows $15.7 billion of direct spending by 292.8 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 277,000 jobs nationally; 235,600 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $29.7 billion” (National Park Service). Considering this, it is paramount that the land stays protected and preserved due to the value of not only the community and the money it brings in, but also to the wildlife within the protected areas.
The notion, “man himself is a visitor and doesn’t remain”, presented in the Wilderness Act still resonates strongly in this day and age. This idea that man will only be here for a finite amount of time has stood at the forefront of many arguments when discussing the importance of protecting wildlife bio-diversity, which parks hold much of. National Parks carry over a thousand different species of the endangered animal list as noted by the National Park Service. To put it into perspective, Yellowstone National Park notes that there are over 300 species of birds, 16 species of fish, 7 species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), 2 species of bear and 67 other mammals including the grey wolf. Also, there are about 1,100 native species of plants and over 200 exoctic species of plants. This is all in just one National Park, and there are 58 in the United States alone. With this knowledge, one could imagine if not for the immediate preservation of Parks; many species of both plants and animals would be wiped off the face of the earth. The purpose of the Parks extends further than just this though.
The purpose for National Parks are rather simple; to conserve the natural beauty and history of the United States and to give people a chance to enjoy it as well. They were made to protect wildlife, landscapes, and culture all while preserving history. Without this protection, the land would otherwise be used for a variety of things such as oil, coal, or would even be commercialized. Many policies and acts were set in place to preserve the natural state of the Park’s territory and keep it from being destroyed by the human-hand. Although the territory may be safe from oil and mining companies from the outside, it is not quite the same from the interior. Regulation 36 CFR Part 9, Subpart B, also known as 9B, permits park units to control non-federal oil and gas rights (ecrf.gov). Set in place by the government, prospective operators must obtain an approved operation permit and reclamation bonds before they are allowed to open operation in a specific service unit. 9B does, however, only protects the surface of the land. The mineral and other resources that sit below the land can be purchased by other companies. The National Park Conservation Organization described this as “split-estate”. But what exactly 9B does is it prevents any method of extracting the covered resources nearly impossible due to its harsh laws on exploiting the land. However, in March of 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that could change 9B. His executive order will review the rules of 9B and could revise, suspend, or even rescind them. This would mean that large oil and mining companies could buy the land and exploit the natural resources that dwell in the settlement. Yellowstone National Park, the 8th largest Park in the United States, was recently bought by Exxon Mobil, a large oil company, that is standing by patiently, waiting for 9B to be overturned by President Trump’s executive order. This stands as a major threat to not only every American now, but also to the future American’s that has yet to see the natural beauty of this great nation. Due public outrage and many politicians fighting to counter this executive order, it is unlikely that 9B will change at all.
In closing, the time to act and protect is now. The importance to protect the land is greater than ever with the potential policy changes form the Trump Administration that could forever alter the natural state of America. With the policy changes and rapid alteration of the world comes the increased demand to preserve and protect all wildlife, the natural state of land, and the history and culture of this great nation. I am beyond grateful to visited many National Park and see the beauty that they hold and wish that my children would be able to do the same. As stated by Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody) from the Nuxalk Nation, “We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.”