Newspaper Page Text
Page 18 ^ Flagpole Magazine September 25, 1991
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Earthworks
Today at 7:30pm, Students for Environ
mental Awareness will oe holding its first
Fall quarter meeting. Meetings are held
every Wednesday at 7:30 at the Ecology
Building Auditorium (located on campus,
between the Forestry and Air Force build
ings). The meeting will be a discussion of
fall projects and events and is open to
everyone. Since I’m plugging SEA so heav
ily, I might as well plug the location of our
office: 205 Memorial Hall and phone: 542-
8102. Memorial Hall is where all the hella-
cious registering took place, and SEA's
office is on the second floor. Wondering
how to compost? Or where to recycle your
recyclables? Come by or call, or write Flag
pole with questions, comments, or general
discussion.
The Olympics: When UGA lost its bid
for the tennis portion of the Olympics, it was
Stone Mt. Park that was chosen. Stone
Mountain Park is a State Park that has both
natural and historical treasures. Stone Mt.
itself is the largest exposed granite mono
lith in the U S and it is home to unique flora.
There are possibly 17 species of endan
gered or rare plants that exist in this inter
esting ecosystem — some of which exist no
where else in the world. There is a National
Recreational Trail around the mountain and
historical sites such as the Grist Mill. The
park has seven million annual visitors a year
who come to ride trains, riverboats, or to
golf or camp. Where does the money go?
The park is already sadly overrun, and
becoming run down. Yes, the park is over
commercialized, but it is still worth preserv
ing and restoring. The old skylift and for
estry buildings on top should be removed to
restore the natural skyline. There is a trail up
to the top that cculd be preserved for use to
view from the top of the mountain. There is
a incredible opportunity for ecological
education and a message of conservation.
Promises to end major construction in 1988
are still unmet and with the coming of the
Olympics it looks like Stone Mountain will
become Stone Mountain Land, a cheesy
tourist trap. For more information, or to join
this movement to
preserve Stone Mt.
Write: Stone Mt.
Memorial Associa
tion at P.O.Box 778,
Stone Mt., Ga.
30086.
My sad predic
tion is a good re
flection on the con
dition of environ
mental acts and
laws, two in particu
lar. The firstenviron-
mental act being
when Teddy Roosevelt set aside wilder
ness for national lands and parks. Today
these beautiful areas are besieged by well-
intentioned visitors from one side and by
government and industry coveting natural
resources from another. The public lands
trust has already been violated by the leas
ing of land for grazing, mining and logging
— all at a monetary loss to taxpayers.
Another law being chipped away is the
Endangered Species Act. President Bush,
along with Sec. of Interior Manuel Lujan,
have tried to place in the act some type of
economic factor to determine if “every
subspecies must be saved?’ (as para
phrased from Sec. Lujan). YES, the ESA
needs revising but for the purpose of focus
ing emphasis on endangered ecosystems
By the time a species becomes listed as
endangered, its habitat is probably lost, or
at least equally endangered. Bush’s push
to add economics to the act comes directly
from the issues surrounding the Northwest
Old Growth Forests,
and is thinly veiled
attempt to dismantle
one the few checks
on development,
especially by large
corporate industries.
’ r he Old Growth For
ests contain several
listed endangered
species and is home
toan incredibly com
plex and fascinating
ecosystem, that we
have only begun to
understand. The administration has seem
ingly decided to ignore the .lack Ward
Thomas report which was written for the
Department of Agriculture which supports
saving large tracts of wilderness unlogged.
Already the spirit of the Endangered Spe
cies Act is violated by the existence of what
is commonly called the “God Squad." Presi
dent Bush wants to expand the role of this
elite board of people (none of whom are
from the scientific community able to ade
quately judge what is an important ecosys
tem) beyond its current cabinet level posi
tion. The term “God Squad’ comes from the
ability of this board to override the Endan
gered Species Act and allow development
to occur despite the law.
The people of America obviously value
their national lands and up to 70% consider
themselves environmentalists. Unfortu
nately, the issues are complex and often
subject to propaganda. Wilderness is often
portrayed as a trade-off for jobs, especially
in areas where the economy is suffering.
However, if people study the facts it be
comes clear that there is more than meets
the soundbite. For instance, in the north
west forest more jobs are lost every year to
machines than to species protection. For
instance, in the West tne cattle industry
leases huge areas of sensitive public lands
for grazing, very cheaply, yet only 3% of
America’s beef comes from these cattle.
The bottom line is that there is, despite
a resurgence of the environmental move
ment, an effort to dismantle protecting laws
and this will only be stopped if people
speak out and stop it. This means writing all
your congresspeople about the Endangered
Species Act or the opening of the Alaskan
National Wildlife Refuge (see Flagpole 9/
18). or the tolerance of lax enforcement for
preserving of existing State and National
Parks and Lands. Additionally write: Sec. of
Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr., Dept, of Interior,
1800 C St., N W, Washington, D C. 20240.
And Sec of Agriculture, Clayton K. Yeutter,
Dept, of Agriculture, 14th St., Independ
ence Ave., Washington, D.C. 20250.
Ali Jones
CLASSIC SCRE
INC.
265 W.
GA 30601 • 546-9215
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Call Your Commissioners
and let them know how you feel!
THE GOVERNMENT IS YOURS
Tal DuVall • 549-1349 Charles Carter • 543-9755
Miriam Moore • 548-0329 Linny Bailey • 546-9013
John Barrow • 353-6584 Hugh Logan • 543-4873
Marilyn Farmer • 548-2385 Cardee Kilpatrick • 548-2023
Ken Jordan • 549-5435 Tom Chasteen • 549-2655
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