"The parks do not belong to one state or to one section... The Yosemite, the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon are national properties in which every citizen has a vested interest... " ~Stephen Mather
If modern society would simply look at our National Parks in this light, there would be no problems, and I would have to find something else to blog about. This light being that the parks belong to all of us, not just Congress, or the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, or America's rich and famous. No they belong to the country as a whole, so why should we not treat them as we would want our own property treated? After all, they are our property.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
An Interesting Quote
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Wilderness and Wal-Mart
The following should go directly to the heart of Civil War buffs and American History lovers everywhere. Wal-Mart, over the last several months has been persistently trying to place a new store on the Wilderness Battlefield.
Now if you are reading this you are most likely in favor of park preservation. Upon reading a few articles and other blogs on the issue, all Civil War buffs seem to be in agreement that Wal-Mart needs to find an alternative location.
If you think about it, why does Wal-Mart need to build here? Yes, the unemployment rate may be high, but can Wal-Mart really help that? A 2005 documentary entitled Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices,employees complain that the wages Wal-Mart pays are not substantial. Former store managers admit they cannot pay their employees any more under company regulations, and are often forced to leave the store short-staffed for many shifts because the company simply will not let them bring any more people in. Is this really worth building on a site where men gave their lives to keep this country whole?
A series of maps have been posted on the web site of the Civil War Preservation Trust that show the close proximity the proposed Supercenter is to the battlefield. It is clear, when you look at these maps, that Wal-Mart is pushing their limits. They plan to build directly across route 3 from the land protected by the National Park Service. Now, I have been to most of the Civil War battlefields along the east coast and realize what happens when one business moves in.
The battlefield at Fredericksburg, Virginia is a great example where, over the years, the town has expanded right to the very edge of the historic fields and even consumed a good portion of it. We as Americans cannot let Wal-Mart have their way, for as the old saying goes; without a past, we have no future.
Now if you are reading this you are most likely in favor of park preservation. Upon reading a few articles and other blogs on the issue, all Civil War buffs seem to be in agreement that Wal-Mart needs to find an alternative location.
If you think about it, why does Wal-Mart need to build here? Yes, the unemployment rate may be high, but can Wal-Mart really help that? A 2005 documentary entitled Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices,employees complain that the wages Wal-Mart pays are not substantial. Former store managers admit they cannot pay their employees any more under company regulations, and are often forced to leave the store short-staffed for many shifts because the company simply will not let them bring any more people in. Is this really worth building on a site where men gave their lives to keep this country whole?
A series of maps have been posted on the web site of the Civil War Preservation Trust that show the close proximity the proposed Supercenter is to the battlefield. It is clear, when you look at these maps, that Wal-Mart is pushing their limits. They plan to build directly across route 3 from the land protected by the National Park Service. Now, I have been to most of the Civil War battlefields along the east coast and realize what happens when one business moves in.
The battlefield at Fredericksburg, Virginia is a great example where, over the years, the town has expanded right to the very edge of the historic fields and even consumed a good portion of it. We as Americans cannot let Wal-Mart have their way, for as the old saying goes; without a past, we have no future.
America's Best Idea: CPR for a dying issue
The recent debut of the new series by Ken Burns entitled The National Parks: America's Best Idea will no doubt help shed light on an issue that was slowly being pushed under the rug.
With bigger issues taking the national stage such as the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy taking a roller coaster ride over the last several months, and other issues that arise from day to day, it is easy to see how people would lose site of our National Parks, and the fact they are in danger.
Yet, the series mentioned above brings to light that there has always been a struggle to keep the parks, well, natural; and to keep the historic sites and monuments from being consumed by residential and industrial expansion.
As new generations take offices of leadership and influence, it is their job to ensure we keep what people such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen Mather, and many more helped make a reality. That reality is having places where we Americans can go and be reacquainted with how beautiful our country is and remember the many sacrifices it has taken to get us to this point.
With bigger issues taking the national stage such as the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy taking a roller coaster ride over the last several months, and other issues that arise from day to day, it is easy to see how people would lose site of our National Parks, and the fact they are in danger.
Yet, the series mentioned above brings to light that there has always been a struggle to keep the parks, well, natural; and to keep the historic sites and monuments from being consumed by residential and industrial expansion.
As new generations take offices of leadership and influence, it is their job to ensure we keep what people such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen Mather, and many more helped make a reality. That reality is having places where we Americans can go and be reacquainted with how beautiful our country is and remember the many sacrifices it has taken to get us to this point.
Why this topic?
There are many topics on which I could have chosen to blog about, and probably ones that would draw many more readers than this one ever will. I believe however, that this topic is largely ignored by the American population as a whole. If this continues, popular places such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite will slowly fade away and be consumed by multi-billion dollar business corporations such as Wal-Mart; or by huge restaurant franchises such as McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Burger King and so on. As this happens, the one thing Americans have that many other countries do not; and that is the beauty of the natural world will slowly die and resulting in the loss of not only many species of wildlife, but a source of peace, individuality, and inspiration.
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