Outdoor enthusiasts should fight for environmental protection

The day after early voting in the 2020 election, I went to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the Assateague National Seashore on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Each year more than1million visitors enjoy these federal public lands, famous for the beach, historic lighthouse, wild ponies, migratory birds and surf fishing.

I trained binoculars on several species of migratory waterfowl making a layover on their passage south, watched a bald eagle atop a tall dead tree overlooking the dunes, and unsuccessfully searched for the endangered piping plover, a small, dwindling species that nests on sparsely vegetated sections of coastal beaches. Gusty winds blew veil-like swaths of sand along the beach and an angry surf pounded onto the shore.

I couldn’t help but think how refuges and public lands like this, as well as many of our national parks, have been de-prioritized and jeopardized in the past four years.

Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior, the agency tasked with conserving and managing our natural resources, was facing a16% decrease in funding. A proposed federal budget would have prioritized energy development programs, eliminated land acquisition funding and severely underfunded the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It would have cut funding for programs dedicated to protecting and recovering wildlife listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which is tasked with protecting human health and the environment and enforcing America’s environmental laws such as the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, was slated for a 26% decrease in funding. Many programs related to climate change would have been eliminated.

Although Congress passed a 2021federal budget that was not so draconian, the administration and appointed agency heads have been making an assault on environmental regulations and jeopardizing our natural resources and enjoyment of public lands and wildlife.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act has been gutted; plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling have been completed; an executive order was issued to fast-track environmental review for infrastructure projects; the National Environmental Policy Act has been re-interpreted to disregard impacts related to sea level rise or climate change. Those are just a few examples.

Over100 previously established environmental rules and regulations have been, or are in the process of being, officially reversed or revoked through executive order. Dozens of appointees to federal agencies that regulate and manage the environment, natural resources, public lands, and outdoor recreation are former lobbyists, lawyers and executives who represented industries regulated by those agencies.

I’m appalled by a lack of priority for conservation and the need to sustain our natural resources for the enjoyment of present and future generations, which has become even more valuable to us in this pandemic period. Millions of Americans fish, hunt, birdwatch and otherwise recreate in America, although I suspect many don’t realize that public lands, the environment, and our outdoor heritage are on the ballot this year.

It does not make sense to cut back programs that implement the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. Nor does it make sense to slash funds for agencies whose work has benefitted wildlife and natural resources, as well as hunters, anglers, and all Americans, for decades. How would that set back the progress we’ve made or hinder these resources in the future?

We need stronger and better environmental protection. Defunding essential conservation programs would affect our natural resources for years to come. That is exactly opposite to the principles that the patriarchs of conservation in this country embraced when they started setting aside public lands.

We should always be guided by these words of Teddy Roosevelt, “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value.”