Other cuts include $462 million from the Bureau of Reclamation’s budget which is responsible for providing safe drinking water to local communities. The Fish and Wildlife Service budget is being cut by $267 million per year and the USGS, an agency that monitors earthquake activity, is having its fair share of cuts of $165 million. The administration’s budget also calls for a 31 percent cut to the EPA.
So what do these cuts mean? These cuts jeopardize the protection and maintenance of over 400 national parks. Furthermore, it would include the loss of hundreds of staff and park rangers who make sure these national parks are maintained. Without these national parks, our biodiversity would collapse and thousands of species would go extinct. Humans are a part of nature. Protecting nature means protecting ourselves.
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I really liked how this situation connects to what we learned about President Theodore Roosevelt and his business with national parks and preservation. I find it appalling that this potential loss of protection as a result of Trump cutting funding to the parks is quite literally tearing down the work that Roosevelt and even other Presidents had accomplished. I hope that our biodiversity and nature in general can continue to be preserved.
ReplyDeleteThis is an action that usually happens every time the presidency shifts from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. In the past, the Democrats have advocated for funding for national parks and wildlife preserves, (even though Theodore Roosevelt, the most famous advocate for national parks, was a Republican), and the Republicans usually cut some of the budgets for these administrations. Your article is very helpful as it details the exact budget cuts, which total up to over $1 billion that will be used elsewhere, in arguably less needed areas.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting read as these cut backs have affected us in California. Because of poor maintenance of forests and parks, there have been wildfires in our state that have been devastating for people in our area. You didn't mention it directly, but you implied that Trump's policies are in stark contrast to Theodore Roosevelt's views on environment. Whereas Trump has belittled the importance of protecting National Parks, Roosevelt did the exact opposite by establishing hundreds of preserves and national parks. It is very saddening to me that our president is trying to repeal the hard hard work of presidents in the past.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_movement#targetText=%22,high%20on%20the%20national%20agenda.&targetText=He%20also%20established%20the%20first,National%20Forest%2C%20the%20nation's%20first.
I really like how you connected the reform of a past president to the present day. Your use of statistics to put a number to the budget cuts really put into perspective how much money will be taken away from park maintenance. In doing some more research on the issue, I found that Roosevelt began advocating for the protection of wildlife and public lands after observing that society wasn't taking care of natural resources. Because of this, overgrazing made him lose many of his ranches. His legacy today can be seen through the 230 million acres of public land he established during his presidency. Now, because of President Trump, budget cuts for national parks is forcing them to raise their entrance fees, making the parks less accessible to the public.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/theodore-roosevelt-and-conservation.htm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/26/trump-could-make-visiting-a-national-park-more-expensive-than-a-six-flags-ticket/