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Philosophical Divide

by REP Policy Director Jim DiPeso
published in the November-December 2003 issue of National Parks magazine

It is no coincidence that many photographs of President Bush taken inside the White House have a painting of Theodore Roosevelt in the background. Bush often points to TR as his role model. Roosevelt's muscular nationalism, his big-stick approach to foreign policy, and his flair for the bold gesture are appealing traits that Bush has emulated.

The similarity between Roosevelt and Bush breaks down, however, on protecting America's natural heritage. Theodore Roosevelt set a conservation gold standard. His dogged dedication to saving special lands and wildlife for future generations was guided by his perspective as a scientifically literate outdoorsman, deeply read in history, learned in the ways of the wilderness, and awed by nature. In contrast, Bush's visits to national parks and stewardship rhetoric are a thin gloss that cannot mask the ideological hostility to environmental protection permeating his administration and threatening decades of bipartisan conservation achievements.

Consider the case of Yellowstone National Park. Roosevelt was instrumental in passage of the 1894 Park Protection Act. The law saved America's first national park from ecological ruin at the hands of commercial interests that were killing off game and cutting down trees in order to "improve" it.

Roosevelt's civic idealism is nowhere to be found in the Bush administration's Yellowstone policy. The facts clearly show that snowmobile noise and pollution endanger the park's irreplaceable qualities. Yet on Bush's watch, the me-first pleadings of one special interest group have trumped the national interest.

These contrasting approaches to managing Yellowstone reflect a philosophical divide between Roosevelt and Bush on the federal government's proper role in protecting America's natural endowment. Roosevelt the nationalist believed strong conservation policies were essential for maintaining America's long-term strength and prosperity. In a 1909 message to Congress, TR said that "conservation of our resources is the fundamental question before this nation, and that our first and greatest task is to set our house in order and begin to live within our means."

Acting as the true conservative that he was, Roosevelt created a lasting legacy for future generations during his eight-year presidency. TR established national forests, monuments, and wildlife refuges on millions of acres of public lands in order to conserve timber, safeguard watersheds, protect extraordinary natural features, and provide sanctuaries for wildlife. Many of Roosevelt's fellow Republicans fought him mightily, but the Rough Rider knew a thing or two about storming a hill under withering fire.

TR, however, was much more than a utilitarian conservationist fighting wasteful timber cutting practices. He saw intrinsic value in wild lands - "great natural playgrounds of mountain, forest, cliff-walled lake, and brawling brook." He called for protecting plants and animals, not only because they were useful, but also because they were beautiful. Five national parks were established during his administration, doubling their number. To TR, national parks were an expression of democracy because they preserve wilderness and scenery for the enjoyment of all.

Where Roosevelt sought to prevent special interests from fouling the nation's nest, Bush has sought to weaken or remove such restraints. Changes to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review standards will allow thousands of old power plants, refineries and other industrial facilities to install major upgrades without modernizing their pollution controls, contravening the law's spirit. Smog originating from outdated power plants sullies national parks across the nation, including Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia, and Big Bend.

A full-court press is on to expand energy production on federal lands across the West. Political appointees suppressed information about the impacts of coal-fired power plants on nearby Yellowstone and Mammoth Cave, then reversed National Park Service findings that the plants would harm the parks. Gas exploration has degraded BLM land that has long been a possible addition to Arches National Park in Utah. The Park Service is under pressure to allow expanded gas drilling at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas.

The administration's drive to outsource many mission-critical positions within the Park Service and other land management agencies bears the odor of crony capitalism, seasoned with overwrought ideology. There is always room for improving government efficiency. Some jobs can and should be contracted out. But the administration has not produced convincing evidence that mass outsourcing driven by top-down decree will deliver better stewardship of the public's lands, forests, wildlife, and waters. Instead, the outsourcing proposal has all the makings of a scheme to turn public lands into a honey pot for the special interests Theodore Roosevelt fought throughout his career.

And therein lies the essential difference between Roosevelt and Bush on the environment. The present administration has given undue influence over parks and other public lands to commercial interests pressing a short-term agenda to extract more wood, fuel, minerals, motorized recreation, and lucrative contracts out of America's great public commons. The costs are likely to be substantial - subsidized resource extraction, fragmented landscapes, degraded visitor experiences, air pollution, and spreading invasive species.

Roosevelt looked beyond the pleaders of his time and planned for the nation's needs in the distant future. He understood the dangers of demanding more from the land than it can give. TR saw the burgeoning growth of early 20th century America as a teachable moment "to leave this heritage unwasted and enlarged." Roosevelt asked his fellow citizens to look beyond themselves and make room in America's democracy for the choices and wishes of unborn generations.

And then, Roosevelt acted. Roosevelt lifted his voice, told the truth, picked up his big stick, and went to work building America's conservation legacy.

A century later, the legacy opportunity knocks. Now is the time for President Bush to reflect on Roosevelt's amazing insights about the land's central importance to our nation. Protecting the last places still largely free of man's imprint would be a gift for the ages. A conservative president ought to conserve the lands that embody America's greatness.