Public Land

  One hundred and seventy-four years ago Henry David Thoreau wrote, "At present, in this vicinity (Massachusetts), the best part of the land is not private property; the landscape is not owned, and the walker enjoys comparative freedom. But possibly the day will come when it will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure-grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only, - when fences shall be multilied, and man-traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road, and walking over the suface of God's earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman's grounds.... Let us improve our opportunities, then, before the evil days come."

      As most of you know, despite really enjoying time with family and old friends in the midwest, I almost constantly long for the west which I love so much. I start feeling clausterphobic when I get east of the Mississippi. You are never out of sight of buildings and fences and other signs of human restriction. Since we headed back west, except for one truck stop and a parking lot, we've spent our nights in the open spaces of public land with beautiful views.

      The evil days of which Thoreau spoke have long been here.  East of the Mississippi it is almost impossible to find public land and, while the west still has vast expanses, our current government is trying to sell our land for a pittance to corporate campaign donors  who will quickly put up No Trespassing signs and keep citizens from what is rightfully theirs.  

     Public land is one of the United States' greatest treasures. In our extensive travels, Pamela and I have met a great many people visiting from other countries. What they admire most is our public land - open for the enjoyment and benefit of all citizens. Most of them do not have such a treasure in their home country and they envy us.  Hunters, fishers, birders, trekkers, campers, people of all walks of life and with a wide variety of interest can enjoy our public lands. That ends when our government sells it to their rich friends who will not only deny us access but physically destroy the land.  

     Over recent years sports groups have united with environmentalist groups united with hiker and camper groups united with all sorts of organizations representing we the people to whom this land belongs.  We all need to support these groups and these unions and add our voice.  Protecting our public land is in our best interest as well as that of our children and grandchildren for generations to come.