Don’t Squander Natural Resources

The American people don’t need to give up national parks, national forests and other public lands, as extremists in Congress propose. Rather, we ought to take better care of them, so that we, like visionaries of the past, can pass this vulnerable heritage on to succeeding generations.

The move to liquidate federal lands indicates whose interests today’s right-wing lawmakers represent. They aren’t representing ordinary Americans, they represent the impersonal corporate concerns that work to log, mine, pave and otherwise exploit what remains of our nation’s natural resources.

Each generation must keep a leash on those interests, following the example of one of our greatest Republican presidents - Theodore Roosevelt. Surveying devastation caused by the sort of unregulated commerce that modern “conservatives” aim to recreate, this founder of the conservationist movement stood up to the corporate pillagers and set aside national parks and forests. Rightly, he appreciated multiple uses of land - hunting, tourism, ranching, logging, mining. But he also appreciated the need to hold certain lands as a national trust, managed for posterity’s interests rather than for the shortest-sighted kind of commercial gain.

Pending in Congress are bills calling for a process to consider closing all but 54 of our 369 national parks, and to turn national forest and range lands over to the states or to private ownership.

Vacationing with his family in the Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, President Clinton declared his opposition to these radical notions. The millions who recreate in our public lands at this time of year surely applaud his position. We also should applaud his recommendation that park entrance fees be invested exclusively in park maintenance.

And, in recognition of the severity of national park maintenance needs, Americans should be willing to support a reasonable increase in the parks’ very modest fees. It would be absurd, and a betrayal, to give lands away when it lies within our power to care for them more adequately.

Federal stewardship can be improved in a number of ways. But it must continue. Roosevelt advised us wisely: “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired in value.” His was a conservatism that stands the test of time.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board