Copyright 2000 The Baltimore Sun Company
All Rights
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The Baltimore Sun
December 26, 2000 Tuesday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. 21A
LENGTH: 588 words
HEADLINE:
Save the wilderness from oil
BYLINE: John Griffith
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
WASHINGTON -- In the final days of his administration, President Clinton has
the opportunity to leave behind a preservation legacy comparable to that of
Theodore Roosevelt by acting on two key conservation issues.
First, Mr.
Clinton should enact a final roadless policy that provides immediate and lasting
protection for all roadless areas in our national forests,
including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
Second, he should
designate the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a national
monument. By protecting these wilderness areas, Mr. Clinton would leave a true
environmental legacy that ranks wilderness over development and favors caribou,
grizzly bears and hikers instead of oil wells, roads and bulldozers. National
forests are home to one-quarter of America's endangered species, including
grizzlies, wolves and salmon. They also provide places to hike, fish and camp
for millions of Americans. In 1996 alone, Americans made 341 million
recreational visits to national forests. Streams running through national
forests provide clean drinking water to nearly 1,000 communities nationwide.
It doesn't make sense to log, mine, drill or build roads in our
remaining wilderness areas. But timber and mining companies continue to develop
our national forests for economic gain. Nearly 100 million acres, more than half
of our national forests, have been developed to the point that they no longer
qualify as wilderness. Less than 18 percent of our national forests are
protected from road building, logging or other destructive activities.
It also doesn't make sense to drill for oil in the coastal plain of the
Arctic Wildlife Refuge. It is truly pristine wilderness, which makes the coastal
plain ideal habitat for wildlife. Caribou, musk oxen, wolves, all three species
of bears and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds rely on the habitat that
the refuge provides. The wealth of wildlife in the Arctic refuge is often
referred to as "America's Serengeti."
The oil industry -- led by BP and
ExxonMobil -- and their allies in Congress want to drill for oil and gas in the
coastal plain, even though they already have access to 95 percent of Alaska's
North Slope.
Drilling in the Arctic would pollute and industrialize this
unique place yet would do virtually nothing to solve our energy problems. The
U.S. Geological Survey estimates that, at current rates of consumption, there is
less than six months worth of oil and gas in the refuge. It defies common sense
to ruin the refuge for such a short-term supply of oil.
It is clear that
the American public wants to protect our remaining wilderness areas. Polls show
that Americans strongly oppose oil and gas drilling in the Arctic refuge and
support protecting roadless areas of our national forests.
A record 1.5
million Americans wrote to the Forest Service last summer in support of a strong
roadless policy.
Mr. Clinton has just days left to seize this unique
opportunity to save our wild heritage. He should enact a roadless policy that
permanently protects all 60 million acres of roadless areas in our national
forests, including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
He should also
act now to declare the Arctic Wildlife Refuge a national monument. Future
generations will thank him.
John Griffith is a field organizer with the
Maryland Public Interest Research Group, which works chiefly on environmental
and consumer protection issues and is the state's leading public interest
advocacy organization.
LOAD-DATE: January 8,
2001 
