Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 08/27/2005 7:14:57 PM PDT by jonatron
An association of retired National Park Service employees on Friday accused Bush administration political appointees of hijacking America's national parks, saying a leaked Interior Department document shows a move to stress recreation and resource development over park preservation. "Britney Spears could hold a major concert at Shiloh National Military Park or nearly any national park since the new rules significantly increase the emphasis on permitting public uses over the traditional mission of preserving historic and natural places," the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees said in a statement.
The group singled out Paul Hoffman, who oversees the Park Service as an assistant Interior secretary, as being behind the revisions. Formerly head of the chamber of commerce in Cody, Wyo., outside Yellowstone, Hoffman had also worked for Dick Cheney when the vice president was a U.S. lawmaker in the 1980s.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Another failure cause by the government run edjimication system.
So, we're supposed to have National parks but no one is allowed to go see them or use them for any social function whatsoever?
This reminds me of the Clinton era where the existing roads were closed to all public use. John Stossel of ABC's 20/20 had an expose on this, showing a wheelchair bound person at the gates of a closed road in a National Park
Environmentalism gone wacko is what it is.
You may not understand.
The Park Service believes it's their land, not yours.
They are "taking care" of it and developing it.
The bigger the budget, the better.
BOR sent a strong letter of complaint about this ranger to the head of NPS in Glen Canyon... but the guy (who is associated with an environmental group trying to drain the lake) still has his job.
These groups who want to drain Lake Powell are the same people who want to further limit the numbers who can raft the Grand Canyon... so the Grand Canyon has maybe 10,000 max people a year that get to see the real beauty and the enviros think that's too many and are apoplectic over the million or more who see this same type of scenery in Glen Canyon from the water
So... my guess is these guys became rangers to get away from humans and wants to keep it that way... sorry for venting... these kooks need to be stopped and that means stop[ping the 501c(3)'s that allow them to use our money for their "stuff."
...so do I. :/
*Klintoon broken record* ...this land is our land, this land is our land, this land is our land...so our friends the RIADYS...could profit (The Great 1996 Coal Heist.)
It's about time we get to enjoy what is ours.
These folks are so out of touch with the 99.99% of the country they just can't see it anymore.
yeah... those sillyass rainbows took over Hector National a couple weeks ago just like they do every four or five years.
by Melissa Wiedbrauk
National Policy Analysis Paper #341 published in July 2001 by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 777 North Capitol Street NE #803, Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/371-1400, Fax 202/408- 7773, E-Mail info@nationalcenter.org, Web http://www.nationalcenter.org. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.
When our Founding Fathers sparked the American Revolution and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they sought self-government for the American colonies and an escape from the dominance of England.
The Founding Fathers would be shocked to learn that some of their successors have given control of key American sovereign territory to other nations.
Through an international treaty, the United States is allowing the United Nations and its member countries access to and control of American soil - in particular, our historic buildings and treasured wilderness.
In 1972, our government signed the United Nations' World Heritage Treaty, a treaty that creates "World Heritage Sites" and Biosphere Reserves." Selected for their cultural, historical or natural significance, national governments are obligated to protect these landmarks under U.N. mandate.1 Since 1972, 68 percent of all U.S. national parks, monuments and preserves have been designated as World Heritage Sites.2
Twenty important symbols of national pride, along with 51 million acres of our wilderness, are World Heritage Sites or Biosphere Reserves now falling under the control of the U.N. This includes the Statue of Liberty, Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello, the Washington Monument, the Brooklyn Bridge, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite, the Florida Everglades and the Grand Canyon - to name just a few.
Most ironic of all is the listing of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. The birthplace of our Republic is now an official World Heritage Site. The very place where our Founding Fathers signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution - the documents that set America apart from other nations and created the world's longest-standing democracy - is no longer fully under the control of our government and the American people. Protection of our treasured places is a sound undertaking, but doing so by ceding control of our sovereign territory to a foreign power is wrong and threatens our rights and freedoms.
In 1995, Crown Butte Mines in the New World Mining District in Montana was forced to abandon a mine development project after the U.N. listed Yellowstone National Park as a "World Heritage Site in Danger."3 Crown Butte proposed to mine a medium-size underground operation on private property three miles from the boundary of Yellowstone. The project would have employed 280 people and generated $230 million in revenue.4
This mining project was not unique. The area had been mined for 150 years before Yellowstone National Park was established. Crown Butte had worked along with the U.S. Forest Service to ensure that all of the necessary precautions were being taken to ensure that the project would be environmentally responsible. Crown Butte had won an award for excellence in 1992 and was considered to be a "showcase operation."5
None of these factors mattered to the U.N.'s World Heritage Committee. Citing the project as a potential threat, the U.N. exerted its authority to force the abandonment of the project. It did not matter to the U.N. that this violated Crown Butte's exercise of its private property rights under the U.S. Constitution. Nor did the U.N. care that its action also went against U.S. federal law prohibiting the inclusion of non-federal property within a U.S. World Heritage Site without the consent of the property owner.6
Although it has not happened yet, under the World Heritage Treaty the U.N. has the legal right to someday restrict us, as American citizens, from visiting our national treasures.
Many environmentalists believe that the mere presence of humans disturbs the environment. As such, it is not farfetched to wonder when the politically-correct U.N. will ban the American public from Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Florida Everglades and other precious natural wonders now visited annually by millions of tourists.
Ironically, banning generations of young people from visiting our natural wonders would undermine the public's appreciation for the spectacular gifts of nature, and undercut support for environmental protection.
Unfortunately, the World Heritage Treaty is just one of a series of government actions that is stripping away the gift of freedom we received from our Founding Fathers.
To stop this erosion of sovereign rights, federal legislation has been introduced to restore the rights of Americans against this threat to freedom. The American Land Sovereignty Protection Act seeks to preserve the sovereignty of the United States over public lands and preserve the private property rights of private citizens. It would require congressional oversight of U.N. land designations within the U.S.7
We should not turn our backs on the Founding Fathers by surrendering the precious gift of sovereignty. We should treasure and protect it.
Footnotes:
1 "World Heritage Sites and Biosphere Reserves Fact Sheet," United States House or Representatives Committee on Resources.
2 "American Land Should Be Controlled By Americans," press release, The National Center for Public Policy Research, Washington, DC, February 24, 1999.
3 Kathleen Benedetto, testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Washington, DC, May 26, 1999.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 "American Land Should Be Controlled By Americans." # # #
Melissa Wiedbrauk is a research associate with The National Center for Public Policy Research, a a Washington, D.C. think tank. Comments may be sent to Mwiedbrauk@nationalcenter.org.
Since 1972 but Bush gets the Blame !?
FYI John Powell lost his arm commanding a Union battery at Shiloh on April 5th, 1862. He later explored the Colorado River and Lake Powell is named after him.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/worldheritage/tentlist.htm
Under the terms of the World Heritage Convention, each signatory nation is asked to submit to the World Heritage Committee a tentative list of properties, which it intends to nominate for inscription to the World Heritage List during the following five to ten years. This tentative list constitutes the "Inventory" (provided for in Article 11 of the Convention) of the cultural and natural properties situated within the territory of each Sate Party and which is considers suitable for inclusion in the World Heritage List. The purpose of these tentative lists is to enable the Committee to evaluate within the widest possible context the "outstanding universal value" of each property nominated to the List.
INDICATIVE LIST, UNITED STATES (by state)
ALABAMA
Moundville Site
ALASKA
Aleutian Islands Unit of the Alaska Maritime National
Wildlife Refuge (Fur Seal Rookeries) C (vi); N (ii)
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Cape Krusenstern Archaeological District
Denali National Park
Gates of the Arctic National Park
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve INSCRIBED 1992
Katmai National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve INSCRIBED 1979
ARIZONA
Casa Grande National Monument
Grand Canyon National Park INSCRIBED 1979
Hohokam Pima National Monument
Lowell Observatory
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Saguaro National Monument
San Xavier Del Bac
Taliesin West [added 17 Aug 90]
Ventana Cave
CALIFORNIA
Joshua Tree National Monument
Point Reyes National Seashore/Farallon Islands National
Wildlife Refuge
Redwood National Park INSCRIBED 1980
Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks
Yosemite National Park INSCRIBED 1984
CALIFORNIA/NEVADA
Death Valley National Mounment
COLORADO
Colorado National Monument
Mesa Verde National Park INSCRIBED 1978
Lindenmeir Site
Rocky Mountain National Park
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Chapel Hall, Gallaudet College
Washington Monument
FLORIDA/GEORGIA
Everglades National Park INSCRIBED 1979
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
GEORGIA
Ocmulgee National Monument
Savannah Historic District
Warm Springs Historic District
HAWAII
Haleakala National Park [added 22 Aug 83]
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park INSCRIBED 1987
Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park
ILLINOIS
Auditorium Building, Chicago
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site INSCRIBED 1982
Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Store, Chicago
Eads Bridge, Illinois-St. Louis, Missouri
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
Leiter II Building, Chicago
Marquette Building, Chicago
Reliance Building, Chicago
Robie House, Chicago
Rookery Building, Chicago
South Dearborn Street-Printing House Row North Historic District
Unity Temple, Oak Park
INDIANA
New Harmony Historic District
LOUISIANA
Poverty Point
MAINE
Acadia National Park
MASSACHUSETTS
Goddard Rocket Launching Site
MISSOURI
Wainright Building, St. Louis
MONTANA
Glacier National Park INSCRIBED 1995
NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK
Statue of Liberty National Monument INSCRIBED 1984
NEW MEXICO
Carlsbad Caverns National Park INSCRIBED 1995
Chaco Culture National Historical Park INSCRIBED 1987
Pecos National Monument
Taos Pueblo INSCRIBED 1992
Trinity Site
NEW YORK
Brooklyn Bridge
General Electric Research Laboratories, Schenectady
Prudential (Guaranty) Building, Buffalo
Pupin Physics Laboratory, Columbia University
Original Bell Telephone Laboratories
NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE
Great Smoky Mountains National Park INSCRIBED 1983
OHIO
Mound City Group National Monument
OREGON
Crater Lake National Park
PENNSYLVANIA
Fallingwater
Independence National Historic Site INSCRIBED 1979
TEXAS
Big Bend National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
UTAH
Arches National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Zion National Park
VIRGINIA
McCormick Farm and Workshop
Monticello INSCRIBED 1987
University of Virginia Historic District INSCRIBED 1987
Virginia Coast Reserve
WASHINGTON
Mount Rainier National Park
Olympic National Park INSCRIBED 1981
North Cascades National Park
WISCONSIN
Taliesin
WYOMING
Grand Teton National Park
WYOMING/MONTANA
Yellowstone National Park INSCRIBED 1978
PUERTO RICO
La Fortaleza-San Juan National Historical Site INSCRIBED 1983
How would you like to see a Hollywood Bowl or Rosebowl type facility built in Yosemite Valley? That would certainly get a lot of the public into the valley. Would that be a good idea. I don't think so.
This is the complaint as I see it.
If it were closing off public land so no humans could enter, I'd blow a gasket over it, but I don't think that's what's up here at all.
So, we're supposed to have National parks but no one is allowed to go see them or use them for any social function whatsoever?
The clearing of helicopter landing pads and the building of luxury lodges will be allowed for the use of environmental group executives.
And, don't forget the fire pits for Wiccan ceremonies.
God forbid that the National Parks paid for and maintained by TAXPAYERS, but use by TAXPAYERS....in the original way they were designed - so that people could USE THEM....ARRGGGHHHH!!!!
Now, the public actually has access.
Another special interest group distorting beyond recognition what the NPS is for.
Thanks for the ping!
Wow, you mean the public will actually be able to use parks financed by the public's tax money? Amazing!
AARRGGHH!! You got that right! Just like the US Forest Service that uses our taxs $'s to block roads into areas that have been open for years. I have become an expert on bypassing these gates with my ATV. I have built a ramp that extend off of my the bed of my pickup that bridges the gate and allows me and others to back up to the gate and unload on the other.
To any USFS Watermelon Weenie that reads this, I have the following comment: "Guess what I'm thinking!"
They are retired, no longer on the job, so they should just take the fat pensions we paid and go away already...
These people act like they own the parks, not the public.
I bet they'd let them use off road vehicles to look for a Boy Scout now.
I have long said that amending the Internal Revenue Code to require mandatory drug testing for all paid employees of 501c(3) tax-exempt corporations, as a condition for such “non-profit” status, would see them folding overnight.
Imagine a world without the Sierra Club, Green Peace, PETA, ACLU, etc...
I also want to stress the importance of calling them what they are: “tax-exempt corporations” (corporate welfare in the truest sense).
a former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park
It is not enough to have screwed the public with inflated salaries and a fat pension from the public purse, they want to screw us out of the parks...
If anybody is doing the hijacking it's the environazis, who want to keep it off limit to everybody except those who THEY deem deserving!!!
How did we ever let them get the upper hand over the rest of us. We are such fools!!
Give this guy a raise!!
Some of this stuff may be okay, but I don't have any desire to see cell phone towers sticking up all over the national parks. And there are conservative hikers and horseback riders who aren't crazy about having to dodge ATV's on the trails--I know that because I've seen the threads on FR.
You can be conservative AND be pro-environment. Just because there are extremists on one side, that's no reason to go to the other extreme. This is an issue that the Democrats can and will use against us if the administration persists with stuff like this. There's already a perception that the GOP is not good for the environment.
This has been the situation for the past decade...yes.
Thanks for the note. I wasn't aware of that.
If that is the case, then they'll be doing this at least in part on the public dollar.
Anyone who believes in representative governance, should object to these NGOs taking over public lands. I've spoken to my folks about this. They can't grasp the reality of it. They think, "Oh, it's nice that a group is going to take over and make sure the public lands are managed properly.
As Sierra Wasp will vouch for, these land groups suck up land at a rate that is astounding.
Over the last ten years the Santa Monica Land Conservency has fenageled it's way to hold vast amounts of land.
Starting out with the Santa Monica mountains, they now own properties clear up to La Cresenta. La Cresenta is about forty to fifty miles from the coast.
These NGOs buy up this land with our tax dollars, then tell us what we can and can't do on it. They do not stand up for election. They are not answerable to the American citizen.
I reckon so.. ;)
In fact, it's probably a good bet that the 'No motorized vehicles" policy, even in the face of a threat to human life, was a key in changing the outrageous policy in the first place. I vaguely remember the Boy Scout incident, and wasn't there another well publicized rescue that the Park Service refused to allow helicopter evacuation of an injured man?
I also recall an incident of some folks (was it a celebrity of some kind?) on a snowmobile lost in a sudden storm. The operators survived the storm only to be heavily fined for wandering into a no vehicle zone.
They are out of control in a environmental whack zone of putting objects over human life and have to be reigned in.
Not to mention the idiocy of halting hundreds of years of cattle grazing (wild bison before that) tossed in to do noting but enhance their own self righteousness.
Does this actually make sense to you? It was MY understanding that Yellowstone was established as a park by Teddy Roosevelt. Or did I miss something?
Then someone saw some money to be made and the current situation began to build... while many of us donated money to what we *thought* were on the same page we were on... (this is the collective *we*)...
Of course, having the MSM in your back pocket helps tremendously in pulling the wool over peoples' eyes... With the internet there is no excuse for further ignorance to this or any other groups.
BUMP!
And a lot of them are beholden to the IUCN.
Been going on a long time Sir Francis.
maybe she'll get mauled by a grizzly during "Opps, I did it again".
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
The mental image of a Grizzy against the backdrop of "Opps, I did it again" is just disturbing!
As opposed to
"Here, ladies and gentlement, are photos of Yosemite Falls, Before - taken in 1900, during, taken in 2000 when such as yourselves were allowed to directly observe historic places; and today (sometime in their future) after its rescue from the public."
Isn't that nice?
What a image!
Heh, heh! I knew there was a reason I voted for W!
Thanks for the ping. I'd like to see the bears take a bite out of crime by eating an enviro-wacko.
BTT!!!!!
For some years now, the eco-freaks have been trying to get us packers (stock users) banned from the National Forest wilderness areas. Now, I ask; How else is a handicapped person, an elderly person or anyone else that is not up to the challenge of backpacking, ever going to visit a wild area with no roads than on horseback? Personally, I want to see the Backcountry Horsemen's Association challenge them with the American's with Disabilities Act.
The bottom line is that the Sierra Club and the eco-freaks want the national parks, forests and wilderness areas for their own private playgrounds.
Ya think? /sarcasm. But I will say the real far left kooks stay in the non-profit realm. They want to fight big brother, not work for them.
I'll second that!
You've got that right!
The NPS should change its official name to the National Park Gestapo.
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