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Wilderness worth effort
By Mike Matz
For the Forsyth County News
With the unfortunate esca
lation of violence in Iraq, con
tinued worries about terrorism
at home and abroad, and a
sluggish domestic economy
keeping many from being
employed to their full poten
tial, this year's celebration of
Earth Day on April 22 is prob
ably not be at the forefront of
our minds. That's too bad.
because considerable progress
has been made since its
founder. 87-year-old former
Sen. Gaylord Nelson, organ
ized the first celebration in
1970. Our sky is cleaner,
which makes the air we
breathe far healthier. Our
waters are less polluted, and in
most areas, safer to drink.
Fewer toxics are spewed into
the environment, making the
lives of pregnant mothers more
healthy, and giving young chil
dren a better start. Especially
in troubling times such as
. these, we should take heart in
the accomplishments that have
improved the lives of millions
of Americans.
The laws passed a half gen
eration ago at the behest of cit
izens from all walks of life, the
Clean Water Act of 1972, the
Clean Air Act of 1970 and the
revisions to it in 1977 and
1990, and the Hazardous
Substances Act of 1973, have
improved our quality of life
and made this nation a better
place. We should be proud of
our progress, take measure of
our success, and recognize the
connection between our envi
ronmental progress and civic
advocacy the theme of this
year's Earth Day celebration.
For four decades now,
Americans have been making
that connection, using the
opportunity given us by anoth
er law, the 1964 Wilderness
Act signed by President
Lyndon Johnson after
Congress passed the bill by
overwhelming and bipartisan
majorities. The act gave us the
tool to save some of our coun
-1 try's most spectacular natural
heritage, our wild places and
Let’s deal with threat, not find blame
Last week 1 had an image
of a group of men avidly
watching TV, flipping chan
nels back and forth, laughing
and bursting into cheers from
time to time. Friends watching
the Masters and other sporting
events? No! Osama Bin Ladin
and his Al Qaeda team watch
ing the 9/11 Commission and
then President Bush's recent
press conference.
America was built by risk
takers people who strove to
rid themselves of the systems
that oppressed other nations.
They developed new social
and political concepts and
built an economy by embrac
ing new ideas. America
became the most free and
open society that the world
has ever seen, and it works,
despite the problems that still
have to be addressed.
Agriculture, then industry and
then services reached heights
that man had never before
achieved. Advancements in
science and technology have
been nothing short of incredi
ble. But now we seem to be in
danger of becoming a society
where assessing blame and
denying responsibility is more
important than accomplish
ment.
Clearly the 9/11 hearings
must have conveyed to the ter
rorists a weaknesses in
America's resolve. The objec
tive of many of the Comm
issioners seemed to be the
assessment of "blame" rather
than finding ways to strength
en the nation's position in
dealing with the impending
threat. The Presidential news
conference carried a similar
tone as one reporter after
another assailed the President,
insisting that he apologize to
America and/or admit his mis
takes like public confes
sions during the Chinese
Cultural Revolution. Clearly
the President had a few mes
sages he wanted to convey.
It didn't matter what the
question was one of those
messages was going to be his
scenic vistas that enable us to
reconnect with nature and
soothe our stresses, soak in the
views, and savor the sounds.
Nothing could be better to gird
us for the worries and concerns
of our daily lives, the hectic
rushing about along clogged
city sidewalks, the standing
still in traffic jams, the grind
and noise of a society weighed
down by chirping cell phones
and blinking blackberries.
And. in fact, millions of
Americans do escape each
summer to camp in our nation
al forests, to visit the attrac
tions at our national parks, to
canoe across spark-ling lakes,
or to fish a clear mountain
stream. We are nearly unique
in the world for having the
wide array of opportunities to
enjoy these pursuits, and we
have many people who preced
ed us to thank. From adopting
wilderness areas, to restoring
historic structures and public
landscapes, to leading guided
tours, Americans from across
the country have worked to
preserve some of our natural
heritage just as it is, as a lega
cy to hand down to future gen
erations as a enduring benefit.
The Wilderness Act of
1964 provided them the
process by which we still are
able to safeguard deserving
places in the National
Wilderness Pres-ervation
System. This Earth Day, we
should take time to celebrate
the 40th anniversary of this
capstone of conservation. A
group of prominent citizens
has newly formed precisely for
that reason. Americans for
Wilderness brings together a
broad and diverse list of peo
ple who share a belief that our
wild lands are important and
need to be preserved. Many of
these people, both Repub
licans and Democrats, served
.their country admirably, under
scoring the appropriateness of
being a great American and a
great conservationist.
Presidents Gerald Ford and
Jimmy Carter both sought and
achieved additional protection
for American landscapes as
part of the National
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answer. That was frustrating
to many in the questioning
and viewing audiences. But
the emphasis on assessing
blame, admitting mistakes and
obtaining apologies was
equally absurd and deserved
non-answers.
The TV viewing public
seems to have reached new
"heights" in its fascination
with negativism and blame.
But entertainment shows
where viewers take delight in
seeing humiliation and rejec
tion the Survivor series, the
Weakest Link. Joe Millionaire,
Average Joe or the Apprentice
have now moved to the
realm of politics and "news."
In this country, we tend to
accept a free and open society
as the "natural state of affairs.”
We seldom recognize the
complexity and delicacy of the
issues that sustain it. The bal
ance between providing total
access to factual information,
allowing for free expression of
opinion, distinguishing be
tween the two, and exercising
"appropriate" degrees of
restraint is one of the most
complex. In a truly free socie
ty. unless standards of com
mon sense and morality are
maintained at a high level,
chaos may result.
Gardens require constant
maintenance water, fertiliz
er, weeding, pruning. The
same environment that
encourages things to grow
also leads them to chaos if left
alone. Freedom-is like that.
We don't all think alike. We
don't all subscribe to the same
moral or ethical codes. To live
together in a free and open
society, there must be trade
offs. Rational people are will
ing to trade some of that free
dom for peace and stability.
The alternative is tribalism.
Wilderness Preservation Sys
tem. and are honorary mem
bers of Americans for
Wilderness.
William Ruckleshaus,
appointed the very first head
of the Environmental
Protection Agency by
President Richard Nixon, is a
member, as is William Reilly,
who served in the same capac
ity during the administration
of President George H.W.
Bush. These public servants
are joined in their support for
America's wilderness by
Teddy Roosevelt IV. David
Rockefeller Jr., writer Kurt
Vonnegut, musicians Emmy
lou Harris and Bonnie Raitt,
architects I.M. Pei and Maya
Lin. and actor Morgan
Freeman. Chaired by writer
Barbara Kingsolver and actors
Robert Redford and Chris
topher Reeve, the group
counts among its members
Gaylord Nelson and Denis
Hayes, who coordinated the
first Earth Day.
These people have assem
bled under the Americans for
Wilderness banner to commem
orate the foresight our national
leaders had four decades ago.
Thanks to this landmark law,
unbelievably wonderful places
such as California's Golden
Trout Wilderness, New
Mexico's Gila Wilderness,
Glacier Peak in Washington,
and Idaho's Selway-Bitteroot
Wilderness have remained pris
tine and largely the same as
when Lewis and Clark
observed them two centuries
ago. What a fabulous gift for
our children. Amid the trouble
and conflict in the world, the
wilderness we have saved cer
tainly is something worth cele
brating on Earth Day this year.
On April 22, find a trail and
stroll through the woods, leave
the cell phone behind and listen
to the chirping birds, watch a
burbling stream, and take pride
in something we have given the
next generation to similarly
seek solace in during difficult
times.
Mike Matz is executive
director of the Campaign for
America's Wilderness.
i
with warlords exercising their
"freedom" to dominate
until others, even stronger
replace them. For the strong,
life is good —for a while.
And for everyone else ... well,
who cares! It is important to
recognize that this feudal pat
tern has dominated most of
the history of mankind. One
might argue that it represents
the "natural state of affairs."
Ours is a rare experiment
based on a different set of val
ues. And it's under attack.
More than that, it's under
attack from individuals who
are smart enough to realize
that a society's greatest
strengths are often its greatest
vulnerabilities.
In his book. "What's so
Great About America," Dinesh
D'Souza describes how
Mahatma Gandhi achieved
nationalistic goals by relying
on British humanitarian prin
ciples and morality. Protesters
who sat on railroad tracks to
block trains and bring atten
tion to their demands knew
that the trains would stop.
D'Souza speculates what it
would have been like if Hitler
or Genghis Khan was the
opponent and the trains
plowed on.
But Gandhi sought goals
that were consistent with
British values, even though
they challenged British colo
nial traditions and he did so
in a manner that was consis
tent with British morality.
• Today we face opponents
who believe that free and open
societies are inherently evil,
and that self-determination
challenges "God's will." Their
aim is the destruction of that
society and its values. And
they are clever enough to real
ize that openness and our
moral values make us vulnera
ble. In this regard, the U.S.
media has unwittingly become
their staunchest ally and they
use it in every way they can to
weaken resolve.
During prior wars, there
was news. But some of it was
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednesday, April 21,2004 I
"managed." A moral people
does not like to see its young
die. A moral people does not
like to see pain and anguish on
the part of others. "Immoral
people" couldn't care less.
They can advance their causes
by fighting from behind
shields of innocent civilians
and using hospitals and
mosques as military strong
holds.
They know that any
aggressive or even defensive
response is bound to create
revulsion as graphic images
are brought into our living
rooms showing innocent civil
ians caught in the cross-fire,
religious buildings or hospitals
under attack, or our own
troops dying. Is censorship
appropriate in an open socie
ty? How does one deal with
the indecision and divisive
ness that uncontrolled report
ing creates, particularly when
these are among the terrorists'
greatest allies? And do the
images we see accurately por
tray what is really going on, or
just small snapshots within
limited TV camera range?
Today we seem to need
someone to blame often in
ways that detach the action
from responsibility. Smokers
who get cancer still want to
blame cigarette manufacturers.
Others want to hold gun com
panies responsible for gun
related crimes. McDonald's is
being blamed for obesity.
Someone must be held respon
sible. and if we can't seem to
get our hands on Osama Bin
Laden, we need to find some
one else.
Hindsight is wonderful.
When people write a "who
dunit" they have the ending in
mind. A good book makes
sure that the reader encounters
all the clues. It only takes the
genius of the hero to assemble
them and apprehend the
wrongdoers. Life is not like
that. Many of the clues are
missing or not apparent. Even
when they are there, commu
nications are seldom perfect
and important linkages are
overlooked. The trick is to
learn, so that each time you
get better.
Sen. Zell Miller recently
addressed the Congress, com
menting on the divisiveness of
the 9/11 hearings. He conclud
ed: "After being drowned in a
tidal wave of all who didn't do
enough before 9/11, 1 have
come to believe that the
Commission should issue a
report that says: No one did
enough. In the past, no one did
near enough. And then thank
everybody for serving, send
them home, and let's get on
with the job of protecting this
country in the future."
It's hard to predict the
future. There are many
unknowns. But even if you
were able to predict what was
coming and take appropriate
action, that action itself would
result in new alternatives, giv
ing rise to a different and still
unpredictable future.
We need to learn from the
past in order to improve the
future. Mistakes were made,
and some things could have
been done better. But the
focus must be on the future
and we must place the respon
sibility where it belongs on
those who are spreading ter
rorism. We need to concen
trate on how we will meet the
current threat, not on who we
can blame for not having fore
seen the past. How much bet
ter if the question had been:
"Mr. President, what changes
and new actions do you fore
see coming from the analysis
of 9/11."
Dr. Melvyn Copen of
Cumming is an educator and
businessman who has worked
and lived in many foreign
countries and provides con
sulting services for businesses
and organizations throughout
the world.
His column appears every
other Wednesday. Please share
your comments with him via
email at melcopen @hot
mail.com.
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