en-sure
verb
- make certain that (something) shall occur or be the case.
- make certain of obtaining or providing (something).
- make sure that (a problem) shall not occur.
If the question is how do we ensure the protection of our public lands’ needs during a government shutdown or ensure they are maintained, the answer is we can’t.
I could tell you to write your representatives and call the White House. I could remind you to use the Leave No Trace Seven Principles while out on public lands, like pack out ALL your waste and do not disturb wildlife, plants and cultural and historical sites. Those are all noble efforts but I am preaching to the choir, here. Chances are if you are reading this, you are most likely already doing these things and championing the cause.
But the truth is, we can’t ensure the protection of public lands. I can’t. You can’t. The government barely does when it is not in shutdown mode. That is the whole point of having “public lands” in the first place. The concept that left up to the “public”, the lands are not protected. It started long ago with the first footfall of “explorers” on the shores of what we now call America and continues today.
A government shutdown shows us exactly why we have national designation of public lands in the first place, we look to our government to be the one to ensure their protection. And right now, it is not. If you want to know what many of our country’s greatest resources would be like without the protection of national registry, look at what happens during government shutdowns.
People are left to their own devices. As we know, it only takes a few to ruin it for the many. Think about it, at the same time a piece of land is set aside for the benefit of the public to use and enjoy, it is set aside to protect it from the public. The enemy isn’t just a bunch of politicians sitting in D.C., we are the enemy too. Unfortunately, we need those politicians to do their job because we can’t do it ourselves. Over the years, any one person or advocacy group that wanted to protect a part of the land or piece of history had to turn to the government to make it happen.
Truth be told I was recently telling a friend that the things we are hearing about, like Joshua trees being cut down, already happen even with rangers present. I have personally seen teens vandalizing rocks in say, Garden of The Gods, with the park ranger literally in a truck fifty feet away. The difference is that we are hearing about it from more people and the media and have a “bad guy” to blame. But it is us that our public lands need protection from and our government is not ensuring that to any extent when it finds itself in a shutdown.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to seem like there isn’t any reason to step up and do our part to help our public lands during this government shutdown. But the question isn’t how do we ensure their protection. The question is, how to we ensure our government does.
This post was written in one hour for the #NatureWritingChallenge. Check out Twitter to learn more or see my other posts from the challenge here.
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