At present our public lands are in a state of near constant peril and crisis, and it is hard to think beyond defending them today and imagine what the future could look like for these treasured wild places. However, I think it’s important that as we fight in the metaphorical trenches it is important to keep in mind the goals and dreams for public land. What our good fight will mean for future generations.
I am not one for half measures, for compromise or subtlety, and I warn you that what follows is as radical as it is fantastic and unrealistic. My dream for the future of public lands may shock you, may clash with your own vision, but I encourage you to give my flights of fancy a chance. With that in mind, I present my wish list for public lands:
1. No more mining, drilling, logging, or grazing
The exploitation of public lands for personal financial gain must cease. Extractive and damaging industries continue to degrade land that belongs to all Americans, the profits of which line of the pockets of only a few.
2. No more motorized recreation, wheels on trails, hunting, etc.
Due to the ever increasing number of visitors learning to enjoy our public lands, it is necessary to greatly restrict or eliminate high impact per capita recreational uses of public lands such as motorized recreation.
3. Roads removed and wilderness restored.
Our general footprint must be reduced through the decommissioning and removal of unnecessary and little used roadways. Eventually it is my wish to see large areas of public land that have been heavily impacted by humans to be restored to a condition equivalent to designated wilderness.
4. All wilderness protected as wilderness.
There’s a lot of land that deserves to be designated wilderness.
5. Shuttle buses to replace personal vehicles.
As demonstrated in Zion, this is an effective way of improving visitor experience and reducing environmental impact at popular destinations
6. New public land, new national parks.
One of the biggest problems facing public land is the inadequate size and/or its fractured nature. Wide and spectacular portions of our country lack protection from degradation, and are inaccessible to the public. Undeveloped private land should be acquired, restored, and opened to the public.
These new public lands would be turned into parks capable of handling as many people who might care to visit them. As they are already so degraded by commercial and industrial use, this would mark a net improvement when coupled with large scale restoration. It would take the pressure off existing public lands and their more pristine environments. My proposed new parks would involve the construction of new lodges, campgrounds, trails for all sorts of non-motorized recreation, and even the terraforming of landscapes to make them more attractive to explore.
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I plan to write more on these and other related topics in the future, as there is not time nor space to fully explain them here.
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Written for the #NatureWritingChallenge
