Roadless area conservation is imperative, not just to the survival of our countries natural beauty, but to the ability to survive and thrive in every aspect of our great nation, from people, to education, health, and even for the economy.
Firstly, we will talk about the natural beauty of our country. America used to be so beautiful, not just in the huge flora of old growth forests, but the wide diversity of fauna that lived there, and all the other aspects of the beautiful American land scape. And then we started to destroy it, cutting down the flora and killing the fauna directly and indirectly. This can only be attributed to human nature. This happened everywhere, so why should it not happen here? We did not know any better. One day, America did know better, and Yosemite was deemed protected land. There had been protected land before, so this action on its own, while still amazing, was not a first. Later, Yellowstone was officially deemed a national park for the first time in the world, and it was a success. America added a great chapter onto its legacy, and other countries started following its precedence.
This will ultimately hurt the American people. Not only would it take away vacation spots for many families or it could drive some poor child’s favorite animal to extinction, it will also have disastrous impacts on the health of millions of Americans. As we remove more vegetation, riparian buffers disappear, and our water gets polluted, this also will cause habitat destruction, which leads to more human -wildlife encounters, which can lead to zoonotic diseases or even physical harm.
Education will be harmed by this as well, after all, how can you expect a child to learn when struggling with a previously unknown strain of plague or a teacher to teach when mauled by a terrified, out of place bison? Especially when they are on a reduced salary because money from tourism, clean water, and public health has taken a toll. This problem will continue to get worse as education gets worse. This reminds me of a time we did not care about the environment and there were disasters impacts, the dust bowl, and how it happened to coincide with the Great Depression.
National parks and protected land are a great example of a time when America made the right move, and other countries followed its precedence. Why would we rip up this chapter? This simply would make America look bad in world view. Along with making it look bad on a world view, it would look bad on home soil: the natural beauty lessened, peoples moral down because they lost their vacation spot, sickness running rampant, and overall quality of life down.