Industry degrades our public lands

I enjoyed the Los Angeles Times article “Shhhh. Human activities drown out soundscape in natural areas” in last Sunday’s Dispatch. Noise pollution in and around national parks and public lands can be a serious problem, and is part of a broader picture of threats that we should consider.

Federal and state lawmakers are considering ways to increase industrial impacts in our public lands, allowing for oil drilling and pipeline construction. Not only do these actions degrade the current quality of our land, but they also infringe on our rights as Americans to have and hold our property. Since these lands are in the public control, we cannot allow the government to sell off what is rightfully ours to the highest bidder.

As Ohioans, we have rights to federal lands all over the country, and we must exercise these rights in order to protect them from the permanent scars of heavy industrial development. Case in point can be seen in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This 19 millionacre tract of land is the most remote and pristine property that the people own, yet there are efforts to open it up to pipelines and oil drilling.

If we allow this to happen to the most rugged and wild space in our country, how can we expect our legislators to protect our public lands here in Ohio? Simply stated, we cannot trade our shared national treasures for a one-time check.

Kevin Flaute Bexley