Blogger Candidate Forum: The Future of National Parks

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/donald-trump-s...e-interior-departmart-sarah-palin/0507641/?utm_source=nl_link3_111516

Glacier National Park
Avalanche Lake, Montana
ops.gov

Hello Everyone:

It is time for the weekly edition of Blogger Candidate Forum.  Rather than dwell on a post-election autopsy of what went wrong for the Democrats, yours truly would like look to the future.  What will the America look like when Donald Trump assumes office on January 20, 2017?

Today we are going to looking the future of our National Parks.  The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th birthday this year and ready to face the future.  However, what kind of future will "America's best idea" have come January 21, 2017?  This is the question Zöe Schlanger ponders in her article "What Trump's Cabinet Could Do to National Parks."  The article appears in full at http://www.fusion.net and has been partly reproduced by CityLab as part of the Climate Desk (http://www.climatedesk.org) and is an insightful examination of what changes are in store for the National Park Service.

Grand Tetons National Park
Wyoming
national-park.com

Here is a thought, former Alaska governor and one-time vice president candidate Sarah Palin as Secretary of Interior.  Before you hurl something at the screen, according to an anonymous Politico source Ms. Palin is being considered for the job.  Mr. Trump has already stated that she will have a place in his cabinet.  Another person being short listed for Interior Secretary, Mr. Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr.  The Washington Post reported that Trump junior could skirt around nepotism laws by declining a salary.

Regardless, things are about to change dramatical for the scientists and officials who study, manage, and preserve the National Parks and public lands.  Blogger would also like to add the National Trust for Historic Preservation falls under the auspices of the Department of Interior.  That point aside, the DOI is in charge of overseeing the NPS, federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and presiding over the U.S. Geological Survey, the scientific agencies dedicated to studying America's natural resources and anything that threatens them-like that "hoax perpetuated by 'the Chinese'" climate change.

Thermal Pool of Hot Springs National Park
Hot Springs, Arkansas
nps.govAcc

 Oh my god was the reaction of former NPS chief historian Dwight Pitcaithley upon hearing that Ms. Palin is a serious contender for Secretary of Interior.  Mr. Pitcalthey retired from the NPS in 2005 and current a professor at New Mexico State University.

Shock aside, what will the DOI look like under who ever Mr. Trump finally decides and confirmed by the Senate?  As president, Donald Trump promises to

...streamline the permitting processes for all energy projects...(http://www.donaldjtrump.com; accessed Nov. 16, 2016)

Porcupine caribou crossing a river
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Fairbanks, Alaska
earthjustice.org

This is likely to translate as cut backs in the environmental review process, and

...encourage the production of [fossil fuel] resources by opening onshore and offshore leading on federal lands waters... (Ibid)

Ms. Schlanger writes, "Almost immediately, Pitcaithley expects it to become 'open season' for oil and gas drilling on public lands."  For example, in Ms. Palin's home state, the sprawling Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been the subject of ongoing debate over whether it should be opened up for oil. So far, the drillers have been kept at bay however Mr. Pitcaithely speculates,

I think that's up for grabs now.

The day after the election, the Alaska Dispatch News wrote that "with both the House and Senate now Republican and Trump in the White House, 'pro-development Alaskans could already taste oil.'" (http://www.adn.com; date accessed Nov. 16, 2016)

Ice Age Flood Geological Trail
Washington-Montana
nps..gov

Fortunately, talk of drilling in public lands is premature-for now, according to Mr. Pitcaithely.  The only obstacle in government's way from leasing land inside National Parks to drillers are items of legislation.  With a Republican Congress and Whites House and a Supreme Court that could lean conservative during the Trump administration, Mr. Pitcaithely says,

I thin the chances are good that will happen in certain places.

All of this, in the interim, bodes ill for climate change.  Dwight Pitcaithley said,

We're nudging up to point of no return.  If we don't do something in the next couple couple of years it's just going to get worse and worse.

Currently, the NPS has developed a division to work on climate change adaptation, and has been vocal about the detrimental effects of climate on the American ecology.  For now, Mr. Pitcaithely predicts that the new administration will impose a gag order to force public employees from discussing the matter.

Knife River Indian Villages
Stanton, North Dakota
en.wikipedia.org

Dwight Pitcaithley added.

Under the second Bush Administration there was a prohibition on the Parks from talking about global warming, under a decree from the Secretary of the Interior...That will probably go back in place.

Zoe Schlanger observed, "Indeed, during the George W. Bush presidency, there were reports of pressure placed on scientists and officials in several agencies, including NASA, to stop talking about climate change."  A 2005 report by Rolling Stone (http://www.rollingstone.com) revealed that the Bush administration "actively distorted reports from their federal scientists that threatened to confirm climate change."  Mr. Pitcaithely imagines that this will happen again under the Trump presidency.  He said,

I don't think it's too far a reach to imagine a gag order being place on the Park Service to stop talking about it.  I don't think it's a reach at all.

Pipestone National Monument
Pipestone, Minnesota
uniquelyminnesota.com

Dwight Pitcaithley is also concerned that the incoming administration will try to weaken the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows presidents to create national monuments on federal, so that they must be preserved forever.  President Barack Obama used the Annuities Act to create 23 new national monuments, including a large marine monument off the coast of Hawai'i and an expanse of wild land in north central Maine.  Mr, Pitcaithley pointed out that Republican presidents almost never make use of the act.  However, under a Trump administration, it could be fundamentally altered.  He said,

I don't think it would be out of the frame of imagination to think that some attempt will be made to limit its use in some way.

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Hilo, Hawai'i
national-park.com

Be that as it may, all is not doom and gloom for the future of American National Parks.  Zoe Schlanger writes, "But Americans overwhelmingly place a high value the National Parks-a report from Harvard's Kennedy School this found that 80% of American would agree to pay higher taxed to keep the National Parks-and attacking them directly would be politically unwise for Republican seeking future terms."

A little more good news.  Dwight Pitcaithley said,

The good news is that for every action there's a reaction.  Trump doesn't have carte blanche.  I think if he goes too far, there will be a pushback by the public, and that will be felt in the next election.

This is all well and fine by Mr. Pitcailthley does not see an gains for the environment anytime soon.

I don't see any conservation gains during the Trump Administration.  Never in my 40 years paying attention to the Park Service have i ever seen anything approaching this...Not even close.