Frostpaw here, reaching out a chilly, razor-clawed mitt to rip the shriveled testicles off the current Administration and its attendant Political Machine. But in a way that doesn’t get her pawsies mussed, and one in which you all can participate, that helps the entire planet.
If you don’t yet know about BioGems, get yourself over here: http://www.savebiogems.org/ and see how our government and those of other areas are raping, pillaging and generally destroying the most beautiful and pristine of our wilderness reserves. And what you can do about it. If you register your email with them, they’ll use the almighty power of the Internet to get thousands of petitions across the desks of senators, congresspeople and department heads protesting the latest perfidy. With enough proetests, even congressional decisions have been blocked or changed. It rocks.
They will inform you about an endangered “BioGem” and give you a form letter, which you (hopefully) amend to suit your own personal style. Once you’re happy with what it says, they send it off as email or fax to your gub’mint reps.
Today something came across my desk from the BioGems folks that set my fangs on edge and made me think about blood sacrifice – the proposed Rape of The Redrocks Wilderness. I go on a pretty regular basis to the red rock desert areas to contemplate life. It’s a stark, serene area that is so full of beauty it brings tears to your eyes. It is a balm to the aching of city-cooped spirits. It is a place where the Divine still lives out in the open, unfettered, unshuttered and uncommercialized.
And now, like it’s trash, the government johnnies want to give this beautiful outdoor cathedral away to political interests for development.
(GIVE IT AWAY MUTHERFUCKERS? Oh no, you DID NOT just say that!)
Well excuse fucking me. It’s like the highway commission putting the bulldozer through your living room and then saying “Oh yeah, we’re building a road through here. But you’re screwed because you don’t really have a say in the matter.”
But we do my Pretties. We do. Biogems is just one place that gets this good work done.
Others are http://www.ecologyfund.com/ and http://www.redjellyfish.com/. Wise and plugged in as you all are, I’m sure you can find more online and IRL opportunities like this.
So you’ll know what I mean, here’s an example of the BioGems letter I just got and amended before sending to the congresspeople involved…
I am writing to oppose the proposed Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006, which you have co-sponsored. As written, this piece of proposed legislation fails to adequately protect Utah’s magnificent Redrock Wilderness.
I personally hike, camp and enjoy the majestic beauty of the Zion-Mojave Redrock area – it would be a terrible shame for any harm to come to this pristine landscape. The American government is failing its sacred trust to protect these areas. These lands belong to the American People, and are to be held in trust for them in perpetuity. Not just when convenient.
The Zion-Mojave proposed wilderness in southwestern Utah is a critical part of America’s Redrock Wilderness, yet the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act would preserve just a fraction of this wild landscape and strip current protections off 15 square miles of wildlands.
This proposal also calls for over 50 square miles of wilderness to be sold or given away for development.
Protections stripped and acreage given away? GIVEN? How can such a thing even be THOUGHT? This administration does not OWN these public lands, the American People do. And as a tax-paying citizen, I do not recall being asked my opinion in the matter.
This short-sighted approach would unwisely destroy tens of thousands of acres of open space and promote sprawl that would forever degrade the serene and beautiful landscape of southwestern Utah.
The Washington County Growth and Conservation Act would turn over possibly hundreds of miles of public lands for off-road vehicle use without considering other recreational users or conservation measures. Nearly three-quarters of public BLM lands in the county are already open to motorized use, which has decimated fragile ecosystems. There needs to be a delicate balance in protecting this fragile landscape for other recreational users.
I urge you to make substantial improvements to the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act before it is introduced in Congress.
In closing I would like to say:
– Americans deserve better land conservatorship than we are getting from this administration.
– Americans deserve not to have their property misappropriated (stolen) to fuel political interests.
– Americans deserve a better approach to protecting our nation’s Redrock Wilderness, preserving open space and planning for future generations.
Shortsightedness leads only to downfall.
And there you have it. Took me all of five minutes to amend and press send. Worth it. And at http://ecologyfund.com all you have to do is click on links to save a square foot or so of endangered land every day.
It takes so little to ruin our descendent’s heritage. It takes even less to speak out and let the ball-crushing power of your voice create change.
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