If you’re feeling insufficiently dismayed about conservation politics, consider reading today’s editorial in the New York Times, headlined "Destroying the National Parks." It details a draft revision of the National Park Service’s governing documents. These revisions, crafted by Paul Hoffman, an Interior Department official with no Park Service experience, had been kept secret but recently came to light.
The NY Times editorial board alleges that:
Mr. Hoffman’s rewrite would open up nearly every park in the nation to off-road vehicles, snowmobiles and Jet Skis. According to his revision, the use of such vehicles would become one of the parks’ purposes.
Further, according to the editorial:
He does everything possible to strip away a scientific basis for park management. His rules would essentially require park superintendents to subordinate the management of their parks to local and state agendas. He also envisions a much wider range of commercial activity within the parks.
