| The
Kentucky Caver Quarterly
Proceedings of
the Bluegrass Grotto: the North Central Kentucky Area Chapter of the National Speleological Society |
Page 01 [contents] ||
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vol. 41. iss. 1, March 2006 | |
| Sell Us a War, Sell Us Tax Cuts to
Cooperations, Sell Our National Parks to Pay for the First Two Bits of
Swag! Let's think a minute. An Editorial by Arthur Cammers. Russell
Hobart (co-editor) and I were winding through Slade,
KY the other day when I voiced the opinion that our government should
purchase a visibly moribund Slade. Those that did
not want to leave should not be forced out, but over time the land
could be
converted to protected natural area by providing enough financial
incentive.
Our government should seek to amplify all other national lands for the
benefit
of our wildlife and for the enjoyment of our people in the same manner
in other
places in our great nation. This trend should continue until whole
tracts of
wooded acreage are restored, until mountain lion, wolves and elk can
come back
into balance, until some sensible natural critical mass of land is
restored
that
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extends the area of
the bear back south. Unfortunately, the
Bush
administration is heading in the opposite direction regarding the
stewardship
of public lands.
I was inclined to
begin this editorial by saying that we are
living in a unique time regarding conservation of our nation’s natural
resources. However, my anti-apocalyptic warning buzzer went off.
I had
images of myself, homeless and in rags, unshaven with a sign held
overhead that reads "The End is Near". The Jehovah Witnesses tried
this from 1914-2000, but even they now back away from apocalysm. Who
will
believe such statements of doom? “Yeah sure everyone has lived in the
‘last
days’” and in ’special times.’ Well, believe it or
not “living in critical times” has always been true when one is talking
about conservation and the environment. To demonstrate this statement
to yourself, the next time you ridge walk at the Red River Gorge,
imagine the whole valley logged out of all its trees with only stumps
as a reminder of |
| Editors: Arthur Cammers and Russell Hobart | Page
01 [contents] ||
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