Only you can prevent .... stupidity
Most Americans want beautiful forests and abundant wildlife. But we are being betrayed by the very organizations that purport to be for beautiful forests and abundant wildlife. Organizations, such as the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have been taken over by radical extremists whose policies, either enacted into law or legislated from the bench by equally radical judges, have fallen prey to the Law of Unintended Consequences.
This radical fringe refuses to recognize forest and animals as renewable resources which, properly managed, can thrive and prosper. They refuse to recognize Germany’s success in forest and wildlife management. If a tree falls in a German forest, it is put to some useful purpose ranging from cuckoo clocks to particleboard. Germany does not allow the kind of overgrowth build up that makes American forest fires so devastatingly uncontrollable. A network of roads and trails runs throughout the German forests, permitting the safe and efficient gleaning of the unhealthy growth that causes our forest fires to get completely out of control.
The Sierra Club and other environmental and animal rights groups are preventing our forests and wildlife from receiving the kind of common-sense management we see in Germany. It is no stretch to lay the deaths of thousands of Americans and the destruction of their homes by either forest fires or mudslides right at the door of the Sierra Club and the other minions of the radical environment Left. When units of government do make application to thin their forests, the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) make common cause in the courts to block any attempts at wise forest management.
While the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is supposed to preserve existing species, the way the ESA is being enforced increases the liklihood some species will become extinct. Every year, some landowners lose the use of their land because some ESA-protected animal decides to nest or burrow there. So, guess what happens? “Shoot, shovel and shut up,” is the motto of those who do not want to lose the use of their land. So, instead of preserving endangered species, humans who are being forced by the ESA and the courts to make a choice between providing for their families and providing habitat for ESA-protected animals are slaughtering ESA-protected species. Again, the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Fortunately, The American Land Rights Association (ALRA) works on behalf of Americans who oppose the overreaching policies of the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy and PETA. The ALRA led the way to pass the Bush Administration’s Healthy Forest Restoration Act which will reduce frivolous lawsuits and appeals filed to prevent the healthy maintenance of our forests. ALRA works to repeal the Death Tax, which breaks up family landholdings so the Nature Conservancy and other billion-dollar land trusts can snap them up for pennies on the dollar and then sell them to developers for homes and condos priced above the ability of average folks to buy them.
Some Republicans are just as guilty as the liberal Democrats in supporting cockamamie environmental legislation. Colorado’s U.S. Senator Wayne Allard and Nebraska’s Congressman Doug Bereuter want to give the federal government even more power to seize private property for pennies on the dollar and turn it into “nature trails.” Colorado Congressman Joel Hefley wants to create an endangered species act for plants so the government can tell you what you may and may not plant in your garden. So, this is not an exclusively liberal conspiracy. This is equal opportunity stupidity.
Both the U.S. Forest Service and U.S Park Service employ many elitist staffers who do not think you and I deserve to use our nation’s forests and recreation areas. This observer strikes back by sending an annual check to: American Land Rights Association, 30218 N.E. 82d Avenue, P.O. Box 400, Battle Ground, WA 98604-9988
William Hamilton, a nationally syndicated columnist and featured commentator for USA Today, lives near Rocky Mountain National Park, the Arapaho National Forest, the Arapaho National Recreation Area and the Indian Peaks Wilderness.
©2004. William Hamilton.
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