A Vote for Conservation
Another Polemic
A vote for conservation is a vote for the box turtles, herons, ducks, and geese that inhabit the untamed lands of wild America. It is a vote for the Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons and all other creatures condemned to oblivion by a society that sees conservation and regulations as obstacles to “progress,” and costly to financial interests.
We might as well say the creatures themselves are obstacles to progress, by which the critics mean profits. We live in a society that only values things by the price they can bring, when bought or sold, the so-called fair market value. Perhaps we should call it the unfair market value, knowing that markets will lead to many creatures’ demise. Entrepreneurs might call preserved land “lost,” though I consider it saved.
Our president recently praised Teddy Roosevelt on a trip to dedicate the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. I hear he was impressed with Roosevelt’s leadership in the Spanish-American War and his imperialism in establishing the Panama Canal. I celebrate another side of Teddy Roosevelt, the conservationist who established several National Parks.
There is a story of Teddy Roosevelt refusing the use of a gun and the offer to let him shoot a captive bear. This story is said to have given rise to the stuffed animal known as the teddy bear.
I'm sure you know about Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot's "Midnight Forests" when they created 21 reserves and 11 expansions on current reserves (16 million acres) right before Roosevelt had to sign a very important agricultural appropriations bill, which included a caveat that would strip him of his power to set aside these forest reserves. It was one of those sneaky political moves by Congress to provide more land for lumber and mining interests and their powerful (and wealthy) backers. Pinchot was the head of the nascent Forest Service, and he had his team work around the clock to map out these critical places. Roosevelt signed them into law just hours before he lost the power to do so. I think it was genius!