Our National Parks, Our Sacred Treasures

Dismantling our democracy means dismantling everything we hold dear. That includes our environment and natural resources. Under the last criminal administration, nothing was sacred, including our National Parks and Monuments. Fortunately, a new administration is working to overturn the brutal attacks on our environment, values and way of life.

Our national parks,  our national treasures. 

Our National Parks and monuments encompass the glorious natural beauty of our country, from sea to shining sea. Ken Burns in his documentary calls them "America's Best Idea." Pioneer naturalist John Muir called them "our national cathedrals," counterpoints to the built environment and monuments of old Europe.

There are 63 National Parks. Here are a dozen of them.
 (NPS under the Dept.of the Interior)

America's rich, diverse and awesome natural environment is part of our shared history and cultural heritage. It unites us. Destroying our National parks and monuments means erasing some of the most significant chapters of the American story. Fortunately, Deb Haaland, the new Secretary of the Department of Interior, appointed by President Biden, is returning priority to saving and preserving them for future generations. She is the first Native American to serve in this post, and it seems more than appropriate, and incredibly overdue. 

Zion National Park, which I visited with
my brother Loren. Incredible beauty.

Before Haaland there was Zinke, enemy of our national parks and federal lands. Lots of voices rose up in fear and loathing to defend them. Among them were the Jarvis brothers, Jonathan, former director of the National Parks Service (NPS), and Destry, a long-time Parks advocate for various nonprofits, They were concerned with the efforts of TFG and his billionaire minions to open the parks up to corporate drilling and exploitation. (Jarvis and Jarvis, "Our National Parks are being Dismantled," The Guardian, January 10, 2020.)  The parks were on a slippery slope, like our democracy itself. 

Chief Seattle now has a voice in the Biden Cabinet.  

  The election of Biden in 2020 reversed this course. For one thing, his Cabinet includes Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI), and he  recently restored the previous cuts to the parks. The Jarvis brothers noted that  "professional management of our national parks has been respected under both Democratic and Republican administrations for over 100 years." Sure, they've had different priorities, "the Democrats often expanding the system and the Republicans historically focused on building facilities in the parks for expanding visitation." But the career public servants of the National Park Service (NPS), charged with stewarding America’s most important places, were left to do their jobs. They protected the parks and our natural heritage. Under Secretary Deb Haaland, they will continue to do so. 

At the Grand Canyon, cold but awestruck
by its vastness, ancient geology, layered beauty.

Some sources:
1. Jonathan B. Jarvis and Destry Jarvis, The Guardian, January 10,2020, https://news.yahoo.com/great-dismantling-americas-national-parks-110036985.html.

2. http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/, Ken Burns, "Our National Parks: America's Best Idea.

3. https://www.doi.gov/secretary-deb-haaland, Secretary Deb Haaland made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. She is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican. 35th generation! Haaland will work on reversing the damage of the former president and the criminal Zinke, who allowed drilling and logging on federal lands, worked to destroy national parks and monuments, showed total disregard for America's heritage and values. 

4. https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/administration-leaders-applaud-president-bidens-restoration-national-monuments


The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument boasts stunning features such as the Escalante Canyons, seen here in an undated photo. Together with Bears Ears, the Trump administration approved big changes for the monuments (Jerry Sintz/AP). Thank goodness the Biden administration is reversing the damage done. 

5. https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/politics/joe-biden-national-monuments-expansion/index.html

6.  https://www.doi.gov/blog/10-public-lands-powerful-native-american-connections  

7. https://www.francurrocaryblog.blogspot.com/2020/02/our-national-parks-in-danger.html

8. https://edsitement.neh.gov/closer-readings/national-parks-and-history?