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Under the administration of President George W. Bush, commerce came before conservation with the result that many national parks were degraded by the encroachment of energy exploration which included such actions as drilling for gas and oil.
Now environmentalist are waiting to learn about decisions to be made under President Barack Obama's recently appointed Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) They find his first message to employees of the park service encouraging. Salazar said he would stress stewardship and conservation on the 630 million acres of public land owned by the United States (U.S.) government. (LAT 01/25/2009)
Former Interior officials and both Democrat and Republican park service directors agree that Bush left the department deeply demoralized. Under orders from Washington, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) accelerated the pace of domestic energy production with key concessions that put oil and gas projects near and within the parks. This was considered by many by a violation of the 1916 Organic Act, which mandated that parks' air, water and resources be preserved "unimpaired" for future generations.
Bush began commercializing the parks very early in his administration, first overturning the Clinton era ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. Later, there was an attempt to weaken environmental rules and allow more commercial enterprises into the parks. Meanwhile, much damage was done to and around the parks.
Salazar's first challenge will be to restore confidence in the agencies that oversee the National Park Service. Some hope has been restored that the parks will be preserved in their natural wonder under the Obama administration when a November 2008 leasing decision by the BLM to auction oil and gas leases on 360,000 acres of public land in Utah was put on hold by a judge on January 17, 2009.
The hope that a new era has arrived along with Obama's inauguration in which preservation of the national parks shall take precedence over commerce and once again become the law of the land.
Comments
Does this article on the Park Service and new priorities reveal anything specific to apply to the commercial "government" corporation that manages the Presidio, part of a national park?
Arguello: This will take some research as I am not sure about the status of the Presidio. Whatever I learn will be posted here.
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