I
have written a little bit about my reverence for America’s national forests and
parks but I would be remiss if I didn’t include all the federal lands that we
as Americans share. Where I grew up and here, near where I live, are plenty of
fine examples of Bureau of Land Management lands along the shores of Lake Coeur
d’Alene and the Salmon River. There are campgrounds and rest stops on both of
those bodies of water that are collectively owned by We, the People.
There
are huge swaths of the American west that are desert with beautiful rock
outcroppings or endless fields of waving grass that we own and are able to
enjoy. Some people write off the desert as some huge wasteland but those areas
have a beauty all of their own and we own them together. No one ever thinks of
National Grasslands but they are there in the plains and the hills and we own
them as well. Oh, sometimes we might not like how these national lands are
managed, but we have a say in that. We can contact the bureaus in charge of
their management or the congressmen who we elect to be in charge of our
national interests. I think that’s amazing. And I also know that while
sometimes it seems like bureaucracies don’t listen, if we become squeaky wheels
and gather other voices they will hear. Again, that’s a big Wow! that I have
that right. And one I take advantage of.
I
love the wide open spaces of the American west but I am well aware of the fact
that the American west is also the most urban area of the country. Yet we have
all these open public spaces that are beautiful, mountainous or seemingly
endless stretches of grass that are ours together. Few other countries have
such precious resources available to their people but we do as Americans. I,
for one, am extremely thankful for that great American privilege and I intend
to protect that resource to the best of my ability so that my children have the
same thing in the years to come.
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