Thank You TR
Speech by President Teddy Roosevelt made at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, on May 6, 1903:
"In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which, so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. I want to ask you to do one thing in connection with it in your own interest and in the interest of the country - to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is.
I was delighted to learn of the wisdom of the Santa Fe railroad people in deciding not to build their hotel on the brink of the canyon. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel, or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon.
Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American if he can travel at all should see.
We have gotten past the stage, my fellow-citizens, when we are to be pardoned if we treat any part of our country as something to be skinned for two or three years for the use of the present generation, whether it is the forest, the water, the scenery. Whatever it is, handle it so that your children's children will get the benefit of it."
Lot's of things which have been annoying me lately, but I'm not gonna dwell on it. So I'll talk about something I like instead today. Thanks to the technology we have today, i.e., Apple iPhones, I've downloaded the entire Ken Burns National Park Documentary to my phone so I can watch it from my daily trek on the treadmill. Someone here the other day had lumped TR with some of the worst Presidents we've had. I'm certain that person was confused with TR's nephew and/or was grossly misinformed about what a great President TR was. Among his greatest achievements was his support of the Antiquities Act whereby Congress gave the President the Power to create National Monuments and also his support for the National Park. He loved to hunt and fish and hike in the American Wilderness. His steadfast to the money changers of the day made it possible that generations after him and after me will be able to enjoy the view in the photograph I posted above. These national parks belong to us and the nation. They are a place we can get away from the mundane views and simply suck it in. Photos do not do these places justice.
I saw the Grand Canyon for my first time this year in my 40's. I took my ten year old son to see it too. I'll return no doubt and simply hope to see it in the same condition I saw it where the only changes would be made by God Himself. The vistas of the National Parks cannot be improved and we are fortunate that great men and women made it possible that we have these parks today; it truly is an American invention and one of the best ideas we as a nation could have come up with. A sign of true Democracy. These are places where the hand of man is minimal and at best unseen.
Since 2007, I made it a goal of mine to visit as many national parks as I can. Besides the Everglades which is in our backyard and is a place all of us in South Florida must visit and protect, I've been lucky to visit Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce, Arches, and Acadia National Parks. This weekend I'll be headed to the pristine lands enjoyed by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in what is now called Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I'm talking my 5 and 10 year old as well. It will be the 4th National Park I will have visited in 2009. And my list is pretty large still. I have so many on my list that I have trips planned into 2011 and beyond.
So hopefully I'll have some interesting images to convey to you upon my return next week from the Blue Ridge Mountains and hopefully I'll have some autumn colors to give you. If you're a videophile nut, get the National Park series on Blue Ray and see it. If you have kids, see it with them. Then make plans to take your kids to one or more of America's National Parks. Everything you need is right here in the USA. And as you stand before these great vistas that we find in our National Parks, you can thank a lot of people, but you should give a special thanks to TR; who was a real man who enjoyed the outdoors, who hunted and fished, who hiked and rode horseback through the wilderness as compared to those who would rather spend their time playing golf and taking their Lexus SUV's to the wine bar.
I hate how Glenn Beck has recently been bashing Teddy Roosevelt as some closet communist villian.
I like Glenn with his attacks on Obama, but anyone who attacks TR especially as a pinko needs a reality check and knows little about U.S. History.
Bravo Mike! You rock!
Glenn Beck attacks TR because everything looks like socialism to him. Especially "National" Parks.
Anyone who opposes the National Parks is a putz no better than a leftist wanker. Many of the parks we have were 1) purchased at FMV from either the state or landowners; or 2) were purchased by private wealthy citizens who donated the land to the Park Service for the enjoyment of the public, such as the Grand Tetons and Acadia National.
And speaking of citizens buying land for the enjoyment of the public:
You're quite welcome, hikers and birdwatchers:
"Note, to "preserve nature," they DON'T tax Birkenstock hiking boots and Ying-Yang pendants – but DO tax my shotgun. They DON'T tax Yoga manuals and Tofu tid-bits wrapped in recycled paper – but DO tax my 30.06 rifle. They DON'T tax binoculars or birding Field Guides with cutesy photos of the red-cockaded woodpecker and spotted Owl – but DO tax the shotgun shells I blast at Mallards before arraying on my grill as Duck-K-Bobs..
"Going further, they DON'T tax Kayaks and rock climbing picks and ropes – but DO tax my compound bow and rifle scope. They DON'T tax the plastic water bottles on Mountain bikes (or the mountain bike itself, come to think of it) or the cutesy spandex shorts these yo-yos wear – but DO tax my duck decoys and camo pants. They DON'T tax Yanni and Enya CDs – but DO tax the arrows I fling at Bambi before he sizzles on my grill as Bambi-burger
"Ten cents of every dollar I spent on my hunting and fishing toys (I'd cite the total but my wife might read this) funds Federal and State "conservation" programs. From my guns and ammo to my duck calls and decoys, from my rods and reels to my lures and gaffs, from my trolling motor to the very fuel for my outboard – ten cents of every dollar in this ghastly expenditure funds habitat for Spotted Owls, Red Cockaded Woodpeckers, Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Manatees, Snail darters, Black-Footed Ferrets, California Condors, Florida Panthers and Sea Otters.
"None of these creatures (from what I hear) make a decent Gumbo or even a passable Chili."
Entire yahoo rant here:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/fontova/fontova47.html
Unreal
Glenn Beck attacks TR because everything looks like socialism to him
I respect his audacity to call at the White House and expose the commies in our midst ... but I do worry that he might be becoming slightly unhinged. I feel that his discoveries are starting to consume him mentally and that he may be starting to find nefarious conspiracies under every rock. His blackboard routines are increasingly begining to remind me of John Nash from the film " A Beautiful Mind" - I know he means well, and find him very entertaining - I just fear that this won't end well and thus his larger arguments which were spot on, will be overshadowed in the process.
I may have mentioned this elsewhere.
Did anyone else notice the following irony in the National Parks series?
Burns spent a great deal of time detailing the singular people who wrote inspirational things and used their powers of persuasion to get the parks protected by congress because the parks were distinctly American and should be available for rich and poor.
Then he spent a great deal of time detailing how people were the worst creation on the planet because their presence in the parks is destroying them.
I think Burns was right on. I didn't get that impression at all Honey. I think his point was that we are our own worst enemy. There are those that don't give a crap. The one thing I really hated about W was his inability to say no to Mining and Oil folks on public lands. They had given permission to sell natural gas drilling leases within an eyeshot of Delicate Arch in Moab Utah which is the iconic symbol of Utah. Here in Florida, people dump pythons in the Everglades and others dump farm chemical residue which destroys the ecosystem. The fish in the glades cannot be eaten because of high levels of toxicity.
Back in the 1960's, there were folks who wanted to put a dam in the Grand Canyon of all places. The compromise was damming Glen Canyon which created lake powell and flooded miles of canyon and which changed the natural flows of the Colorado River. It used to flow into the Gulf of Cortez. Now it ends in the middle of the desert near California. The demand for water will deplete these natural resources and unless true Americans stand up and protect these, future generations will not be able to enjoy what I've been fortunate to enjoy.
TR said, leave it as is. I agree. Otherwise, you end up with what you have in Europe. Stinky cities.
Mojito, I agree. It's when folks start talking the extreme and wasting energy on BS (like the birther folks), it undermines our strong arguments and then we get lumped with these loons by the msm.
They are wasting their time throwing rocks in this war, when we need to be using tanks.
Mike,
Of course much of what you say is important. And I must confess I am no expert in any of this.
And you know there's a but coming...But we should be drilling in Anwar and we should not be ruining agriculture in California over a newly discovered endangered species. There is a point at which people matter, too.
I am glad there are those who are willing to fight for nature, but I am getting annoyed by many, like Peta, who think man is the enemy. Sorry, I like people, too.
It is where we choose to protect nature and where we must protect people that is so hard to keep in the right balance.
Honey,
It's a mistake to confuse the lunatic fringe of the environmental movement with the conservationist movement. The folks at PETA and Earth First are out and out psychotics.
But I'm just surprised that Mike hasn't been banned from this blog already.
Spygirl,
You like to use the word psychotics. But here I accept your use of it. It is too bad the Sierra club as well, which has done so much good, seems to have been coopted by fanatics who are giving the Club a bad name.
And perish the thought that Mike should be banned. Those pictures are so thrilling. And his ideas on the parks are not offensive.