Archive for the 'Politics' Category

Morning Rage

Published on May 16, 2008 in Environmentalism, National Parks and Monuments and Politics. 0 Comments

I haven’t had my morning cup of joe yet, but I read this article on MSNBC and it did all the blood-boiling I need to get going on the rest of the day.

The Bush Administration, which loves the U.S. Park Service so much that it made one lame web video about it and pretended to be some horrible bizarro version of Teddy Roosevelt is at it again — this time, they want to show their love of nature by allowing more pollution in our National Parks.

The EPA wants to change the way pollution is measured around the parks, abandoning the same method that’s been used for three decades, and instead adopt an “annual average” method that would basically make it so that pollution spikes from increased power demand and other phenomena would never show up in the data. Mark Wenzler, of the National Parks Conservation Association, sums it up: “It’s like if you’re pulled over by a cop for going 75 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, and you say, ‘If you look at how I’ve driven all year, I’ve averaged 55 miles per hour. It allows you to vastly underestimate the impact of these emissions.”

The NPCA says this new rule change would allow 33 new coal plants to be built within 186 miles of 10 National Parks. This, at a time when Western Parks are experiencing their highest smog levels in ten years and it’s often unhealthy to breathe the air at Smoky Mountains National Park.

… At least now I know what to suggest for the President’s National Park Service Centennial Initiative — more interpretive plaques, like this one at Joshua Tree:

null

for good measure, read more on Bush’s abysmal environmental record.

Parks Safe For Now

Published on May 14, 2008 in Politics and State and Local Parks. 1 Comment

In a highly expected and not-at-all surprising announcement this week, Governor Schwarzenegger said he would NOT close 48 State Parks, shortfund schools, or release thousands of inmates from prison to balance the state’s budget.

Instead, he’s planning on borrowing money from investors that he hopes to pay back with future revenues from California’s lottery, which sounds like something you’d read in an email from the member of some royal Nigerian family.

Expect fees in some of the more popular parks to rise — but hey, at least you can still use them, right?

Via Two-Heel Drive.

Roadlessland.org

Published on March 4, 2008 in Environmentalism, National Forests and Recreation Areas and Politics. 3 Comments

Reader Nelson commented on some of the recent entries about the Forest Service’s attempt to overturn the 2001 Roadless Rule. He provided a link to his web site, devoted to educating the public about the Roadless Rule — roadlessland.org.

It’s an easy and visceral way to get an idea of just how much land could be affected if the Roadless Rule is overturned. Here in Southern California, large swaths of the Angeles and San Bernardino Forests will be up for grabs, while almost all of the Los Padres National Forest could be facing new construction crews.

The dark green diagonals are already-established Wilderness Areas. The light green areas are currently-held Roadless areas, which may potentially lose their protection if the Bush Forest Service gets its way.

You can click on the sections of forest to get more information about each one, as well as search by state and name. If you want to get a bit more informed, there’s an excellent summary of the issue … and if you want to be scared about what might happen, they’ve got aerial photos of some particularly invasive Forest Service roads.

Update: Roadless Rule

Published on February 29, 2008 in Environmentalism, National Forests and Recreation Areas and Politics. 2 Comments

Today, the L.A. Times reports the state of California filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service over the Bush Administration’s attempts to overturn the Roadless Rule. And they didn’t stop there.

The Golden State also slapped the Forest Service’s wrists on their current levels of designated Wilderness areas in California, saying the 500,000 acres already protected needs to at least double in order to protect endangered and threatened species.

Wow. Maybe a bit of payback for the fuel efficiency EPA waiver smackdown from a few months back?

Whatever the reason, it’s good to be a Californian today.

Weekend Watching - Fighting Over Forests

Published on February 29, 2008 in Environmentalism, National Forests and Recreation Areas and Politics. 0 Comments

If you live in the West, chances are you live near a National Forest. Even in Los Angeles, there are four National Forests within reasonable (at least for Southern California) driving distance. If you’re reading this site, chances are you’re a hiker or otherwise enjoy the outdoors, and have probably used these National Forests pretty frequently.

Then this matters to you.

A bit o’ history — near the end of President Clinton’s second term, the Forest Service adopted the “Roadless Rule,” which prevented new roads from being built in the approximately 30% of land that didn’t already have them. The plan preserved access for recreation, but not industry, which already had permission to develop 51% of Forest Service land (hence the slogan, “land of many uses,” I guess).

Then Bush got into office, and started working on overturning this rule, for “states’ rights.” You know, over Federal land. And not, he swears, for the industry cronies he’s appointed into every level of the Park Service and Forest Service. Honest.

This week, PBS’ “Now” has a 20 minute feature on the first major battleground in this attack on our National Forests - southeastern Idaho. The state was the first to propose its own “roadless” areas, which were significantly fewer than the zones protected under the Forest Service’s rule.

Watch it.

Then take the Feds up on their Comment Period if and when it comes to your state. If this isn’t fought, almost 4 and a half million acres of Forest could be opened in California alone.

For more fun reading, check out Now’s list of 9 landmark environmental decisions during the Bush administration. Remember them the next time Bush tries to trick people into thinking he’s an environmentalist.

But Can Guns Protect You From PCBs?

Published on February 28, 2008 in Environmentalism, National Forests and Recreation Areas and Politics. 0 Comments

There’s been quite a bit of National Parks news this week, and unfortunately none of it is very good.

GetOutdoors and the Goat both picked up on AP stories about an announcement by the Department of the Interior that said they were considering relaxing firearm restrictions in National Parks and Recreation Areas. According to an NRA spokesman, this is great because “law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited from protecting themselves and their families while enjoying America’s national parks and wildlife refuges.”

I could go into the myriad reasons why this is pretty f’in ridiculous, but climb_ca and Rocky both do a pretty great job of venting.

This news hits at the same time as the results from a six-year federal study of pollutants in the West’s National Parks. The findings? Not so hot.

Despite being banned in the States, dangerously high levels of contaminants like mercury, DDT and PCBs were found up and down the West Coast’s “pristine natural areas,” from Denali to Big Bend and - closer to home - Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon Parks.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon had contaminant levels in fish that exceeded both the levels for safe human consumption and fish-eating-wildlife consumption. Which is pretty frightening.

Read more on the study at the National Park Service web site.

Photo by DeShark.

Toll Road Defeated

Published on February 7, 2008 in City Life, Environmentalism and Politics. 4 Comments


Yesterday, a massive group of surfers, campers and environmentalists flooded a public hearing on a proposed toll road through San Onofre State Park.

The 3500+ person crowd rallied against the 6-lane toll road, which would have taken 320 acres of the park’s land, including sections of a protected marine estuary. In that rare instance of good news, the rabble managed to convince the county commissioners to vote down the toll road, 8 to 2.

The formerly semi-green Governor Schwarzenegger, who has also proposed cutting back the lifeguards at San Onofre, came out in favor of the trans-wilderness freeway last month.

Via LAist.

Americans Would Rather Stay Inside

Published on February 5, 2008 in City Life, Environmentalism, Politics and The Great Outdoors. 1 Comment


Lonely Bench in Forest, originally posted by Eszter

A new study finds Americans are getting into the Great Outdoors 25% less than they did in 1987, with the decline continuing at about 1% every year.

The study measured attendance to National Parks, hiking and camping permits, and getting a license to hunt or fish, and say a new national epidemic of “videophilia” - a focus on “sedentary activities involving electronic media,” may be to blame.

Although the folks at the GOBlog take this to humorous heart, I can’t imagine it’s the primary cause of this decline.

I’m a gamer, myself, and I got into the Outdoors on my own accord well after I’d already been indoctrinated into the joy of various-bit gaming systems. We gamers have had our pasttime blamed for everything from obesity to school shootings to the Downfall of Civilization, itself, so I’m not surprised that they’re also being blamed for keeping kids indoors.

There’s probably a laundry list of reasons why people don’t get outdoors as much anymore - but I’d say that the media’s sensationalizing of the Dangers of Nature does more damage than video games and Google ever will. You’ll catch a cold if you go outside. Or maybe even the plague. Or you’ll get a tick and catch Lyme disease. Or you’ll get mauled by a mountain lion. Or eaten by a bear. Or murdered. What parent wouldn’t want their kids staying in the living room with all that Evil out in the woods?

Maybe what we really need is to stop attacking straw men and start reintroducing the appreciation of the Great Outdoors into our educational curriculum. Teach more environmental science. Show kids how important it is to preserve wilderness in their own communities. Teach about the history of the National Park System - a revolutionary idea that grew up right here in the good ol’ US of A. Show students how survival skills serve both a practical and emotional utility.

Oh, and let’s show them adults value the outdoors by not dumping trash all over it, shooting soot into the air, or closing down a fifth of your state’s parks.

Modern Hiker - Nature Pundit

Published on January 28, 2008 in Politics, State and Local Parks and in the media. 1 Comment

I’m proud to say the fine folks at SNEWS - the leading outdoor and fitness industry news source - interviewed me last week about Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposed closing of 48 California State Parks to help the looming budget crisis.

The podcast has been posted, and it’s a great listen. If you’ve been looking for the issue encapsulated in a neat little package, or wanted to hear what other organizations are doing about it … or just wanted to hear what I sound like, go check it out.

Update on the California Park Closings

Published on January 14, 2008 in Politics and State and Local Parks. 0 Comments

For those fellow Californians who are tracking Gov. Schwarzenegger’s threatened closing of 48 state parks, the San Jose Mercury News has some updates and analysis of the issue.

The good news: If enacted, the parks likely wouldn’t close until 2009, and groups across the state are preparing counter-assaults on the proposal, pointing out it would only eliminate one tenth of one percent of California’s deficit, and that Arnold would become the first California Governor ever to close State Parks to balance a State Budget.

The bad news: Nobody thought the National Park Service would close the Grand Canyon and Washington Monuments during a 1995 budget crisis, but they did.

Either way, this is a very interesting political situation that I’ll be following closely. And, if it comes down to it, maybe some of us can spend some time volunteering in Topanga State Park to keep it open?

Via Two-Heel Drive.