A commentary by Tea Party Patriot
The powers that be have decreed that the area of the Pine Ridge fire will be closed to humans for at least a year. No doubt they can show sound scientific and biological reasons for that decree. Equally certain are the human backlashes that will follow and which will be misunderstood by the “experts” as ignorance. I mean, after all, they are the experts and it is ridiculous that they would have to deal with the temper tantrums of those who just don’t understand. And you can count on resentment from both sides of the issue; and the development of an us and them mentality.
That’s what happens when a government bureaucracy decides to shut down your back yard because it’s in your best interest in the long term. It comes under the heading of greater good and they are the deciders. Now never mind that they also believe that they can stabilize the desert southwest; a land that was carved by erosion, a land whose beauty was created by geological cataclysm and carved by the forces of nature, eons before the experts arrived on the scene.
How much do you suppose it will cost the “public” both in dollars and in lost revenue and lost access before the ‘experts’ realize what the public already knows. You can’t stabilize an environment that is in a state of constant flux.
It’s a fool’s errand, a pipe dream whose only connection with boots on the ground reality is that the effort (however misguided and impossible) will fulfill at least in part the bureaucratic agenda of job security (for the experts of course).
What will happen to the drill rig sites that lie within the burn area? Will they be forced to shut down and move? No, they will be given special dispensation as will the other “special interests” that can afford it. There will be a whole new layer of regulations, negotiations and the need for constant monitoring and enforcement. But Joe Sixpack who can’t afford lobbyists; well they’ll be faced with a sign that says keep out.
And the environmentalist’s groups from California and New York will have a field day filing lawsuits and demanding that the yearlong closure is not long enough; that the fragile landscape will require decades to fully recover. The experts will fly in to testify. There will be appeals and counter appeals. There will be injunctions and contradictory court orders, and in the end the argument will be that the public has accepted the closure and it is for the greater good that the land remains closed to human use in order to preserve it for future generations of non human use. And of course the experts, environmentalists and special interests will argue for and against inclusion of the burn area in an expansion of the “Wild Horse” sanctuary.
You don’t suppose it would be possible to start one of those sanctuaries for people do you; maybe tucked in somewhere between the wilderness areas, the oil company leases, the state parks and federally and state controlled land? No probably not. Even with day use fees, special use permits, access fees, campfire fees, camping fees and the profits generated by the Marijuana Growers Association. No, that would just be too much to ask; because there is no “public” in the greater good, at least other than as an address of where to send the bill.
And this last part is just for the people of Debeque. You want recreation? Then why not create your own entertainment. Petition the BLM to open an area equal to the closure (in the nearest designated wilderness area) to motorized travel, drilling and other human recreational pursuits for as long as the closure of the burn area lasts. Two things will happen. You’ll have a war to watch and you’ll gain some valuable insight into a process known to the “experts” as the inevitability of gradualism and how it’s applied to benefit “their” agenda; “their” greater good.
And when you go to the voting polls in November, maybe you too could serve the “public’s” greater good by voting for the people’s choice write in candidate; Dewey Needone.