Instead of natural/cultural husbandry,
We’ve got political theatre catastrophe.
You Dear Readers of Mary’s and my blog know that we make every effort to write from the political center and, regardless of the event(s), not to rant. For any of you who might read a political message into this, please don’t. This blog post is a fervent plea for a deeply held passion of Mary’s and mine—the National Parks of United States of America.
As of this writing, 18Jan19, the United States Federal Government has been partially shut down for 28 days. During that time, the Administration has chosen to keep most national parks open even though they are thinly staffed or not staffed at all and those who are working are currently not being paid. Parks, Rangers, visitors and local economies are suffering. The reports of vandalism, trashing and theft in these unique lands are increasing daily. Add to this that the current Administration is working hard to withdraw previous protections and increase the extraction of resources near and in the parks makes the current situation even more urgent.
Ironically, this is all playing out in 2019, the year in which the National Park Conservation Association is celebrating its 100th birthday. But there is no celebrating going on at the NPCA. Many of you will recall that Mary and I are donating all profits from the sales of our The National Park Service Turns One Hundred e-book available at Amazon to the NPCA. They do outstanding work in the protection and conservation of this vital natural and cultural heritage.
We ask you to please write your U. S. Congressperson and two U. S. Senators urging immediate and effective resolution. Items you might consider including are:
Until the shutdown is ended, close the parks.
Find the consensus and end the shutdown.
Pay all affected employees their back pay.
Reopen the parks.
At each park, resolve negative shutdown issues.
Allocate the funding to reduce/eliminate the currently $11 billion maintenance backlog.
In addition to writing your elected representatives, you can also write the Acting Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, by visiting www.npca.org, click on “ACT NOW”, fill out their form, and you can even personalize their pre-prepared letter should you wish. Thank you for your much-appreciated contributions to this effort! Mary & Forrest