The Needs of the Many

The Needs of the Many

For those of you who are Star Trek fans, you’ve heard Spock say, ”The needs of the many are outweighed by the needs of the few.” In today’s society, however, the trend is for the needs of the few to outweigh the needs of the many. All it takes is money and lawyers.

Incredibly, the preservationist and anti-everything crowd continues to gain ground in reducing our access to public lands. These fanatical and well financed environmentalists are determined to lock up vast amounts of land –not to “save” for future generations of mankind, but to save from future (and present) generations of mankind.

In the eyes of these extremists, people are the bad guys, plants and animals have the right to live undisturbed by man. They believe that animals should not have to see, smell or hear a human being. Plants should not be seen or touched by humans. Our soils should not have to feel the impact of a footprint or a tire. Our rivers and creeks should not have to endure the wake from a canoe’s paddle or a motorboat’s propeller. Man is the exotic and invasive creature that must be removed from nature and the food chain. Mankind should be controlled and managed, not our wild lands. Yet, this anti-people viewpoint held by just a minute portion of our population is gaining momentum, especially with government policy makers.

Roads are being closed in our national forests, national wildlife refuges for endangered species have been completely closed to the public and personal watercraft have recently been banned in our national parks and snowmobiles may soon suffer the same fate. Further, reductions in access points for off road vehicles, limiting off road vehicles to designated trails and increasing user fees in an attempt to reduce usage, etc. show this trend well. The list goes on.

Here in South Florida, we have been battling to retain our right to use off road vehicles in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Off road vehicles have been used in the Big Cypress swamp for over fifty years. They are the only means for most people to ever see the harsh and very wet environment of the Big Cypress.

Five years ago, a five-member group calling itself The Florida Bio-diversity Project filed suit against the National Park Service to severely restrict or eliminate off road vehicle use in the Big Cypress Preserve, an activity currently enjoyed by 2,000 off road vehicle permit holders. Just 5 people with financial backing from The Bio-diversity Legal Foundation (based in Colorado) have affected the recreational pursuits of 2,000 law abiding citizens on over 580,000 acres of public land. Of course, you’ll never see these five people roughing it in the woods, they prefer the nature trails and boardwalks provided by the park service.

Ever heard of the Wild-lands Project? This is a scary group. Their plans call for returning 50% of the United States back to its natural, pre-human invasion, state. People can have the other half, the part that is completely paved over and can’t possibly be returned to nature (how generous). I guess these people must be praying for nuclear war to reduce the population. Truly, the Wild-lands project calls for the establishment of large “green corridors” to “protect” entire ecosystems. People would be barred from the large core wilderness areas; no hiking, bird watching, camping, certainly no hunting or fishing or for that matter anything else involving people! When I see another road closed or hear about another outdoor activity banned on our public lands, I feel as though our government has embraced the Wild-lands Project’s agenda, certainly President Clinton has!

It is time for us (the majority) to stand up and have our say. It’s time for those of us who enjoy the outdoors to join together and fight for access to our public lands that were purchased with our tax dollars. If we don’t, we may one day be faced with an increasing number of “No Trespassing” signs on public lands that we have all enjoyed for years. How do you get involved? For starters, you can write letters to your congressmen, attend public meetings concerning land use issues and join groups that promote outdoor recreation. We need to stand up for other public land user groups even when we disagree with that group. United we stand or divided we fall.

Come November, you need to vote for George Bush! We have lost access to quite a bit of public land under President Clinton and there is no indication that it will be any different under Al Gore. Governor Bush believes in conservation (the wise use of resources) not preservation (locking it up and throwing away the key). Please, please get involved! It is time for the needs of the many to outweigh the needs of a few extremists.

Thanks, Clem Rodriguez Miami, Florida