Fire Sale: Our National Parks and Forests
America’s national debt has reached an all time high. What can be done? Our politicians and those currently running our government have proposed some possible solutions to reducing the debt that amount to the giving away of our National Heritage: Our National Parks and Forests.
Want to know the current value of the national debt to the penny? Go to the government’s Bureau of Public Debt site and see the latest debt to the penny. The latest value posted, as of March 23, 2006 was $8,363,536,754,922.14. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that amounts to about $27,000 per person.
As Michael Ruby of the noted in the Journal Sentinel piece, the government has some ways that we can help reduce the debt. Here is one way as listed on the government’s Public Debt web site (no kidding):
Please follow these important steps to make a contribution to reduce the debt.
- Make check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt.
- In the memo section of the check, notate Gift to reduce Debt Held by the Public.
- Mail check to -.
ATTN DEPT G
BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC DEBT
Our politicians in Congress and the current managers of the National Park Service have some even better ideas how we can share the pain:
- Sell-off some of our National Parks to the highest bidders in the oil and gas industries (Rep. Richard Pombo R-Calif.).
- Cut $100 million dollars from the already underfunded National Park Service appropriations (President Bush).
- Let a former staffer for Vice President Dick Cheney, Paul Hoffman, rewrite regulations to shift the management focus from the National Park Service’s central, historic mission — preserving natural resources for the enjoyment of future generations — to commercial and recreational use of the parks for today’s generation.
The new proposed National Park Service Management Policies can be viewed HERE.