Declaration
Ξ May 8th, 2008 | → | ∇ Wilderness |
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
Federally-administered public lands are the birthright of all Americans. Public lands comprise one-third of the land base of the United States, encompassing crucial watersheds, fish and wildlife habitat, and undeveloped open spaces offering inspiration and renewal to the human spirit. The life-sustaining and life-enhancing benefits provided by public lands contribute to the well-being of all Americans.
Public lands are a valued American tradition, held in trust for the permanent good of the people. Each new generation inherits a responsibility to protect the public values and benefits these lands hold and pass this legacy on for future generations to experience and enjoy.
Our laws recognize the importance of preserving our public land heritage. Yet even with protective laws in place, these lands are under constant assault by those seeking to exploit them for private financial gain, others who would barter them for political favor, and yet others who are opposed to the very concept of public land. Too often, deference is given to select special interests to the detriment of broader public values and needs.
A disturbing trend is afoot to privatize our public lands outright or, more insidiously, to commodify and sell their unique values and benefits to a public increasingly viewed as customers rather than citizens. These trends threaten the very ideas of public space, shared values, democratic principles, and a public commons—as well as the integrity of the functioning natural systems upon which all life depends. This drive to quantify and monetize all values in our society obscures the enduring, intrinsic value of our public land.
Citizen advocacy is critical to preserving our public land heritage. Public lands will only be protected through a unified and committed public land movement. In that spirit we, the undersigned, present the following principles for public lands:
Principles for Public Lands
1. Our public lands are a public good that must be protected in perpetuity for the benefit of each new generation.
2. Public lands must remain in public ownership, overseen by the federal government on behalf of, and with the input of, all citizens.
3. Protecting public lands requires strong and enforceable laws. Efforts to circumvent the protections in existing environmental laws must be resisted.
4. The public has a right to know how our shared lands are being managed, and to participate in open, transparent planning and decision-making.
5. Control of public lands must never be ceded to local interests, advisory boards, panels, or groups, but should remain with the federal government and, by extension, the public at large.
6. Precedence shall be given to ecological and other public purposes. The biological health of public lands, waters, and wildlife have intrinsic value and should be given the highest priority in public land management.
7. Public use shall take precedence over commercial use. In situations where access is restricted or allocated, the needs of the self-guided public shall take precedence over the wants of commercial service providers. The potential for revenue generation or other commercial outputs must never unduly influence management decisions.
8. Public lands are not a form of currency to be bartered for political favors. They are not to be sold for revenue generation or for administrative cost reduction. Protecting one area must not be accomplished by supporting degradation of another. In these regards, public lands are non-fungible.
9. Citizens and visitors alike should not be charged a fee merely for walking, riding or floating upon public lands and waters. Enterprises engaged in commerce should, at a minimum, be required to pay full cost recovery for anything they do upon, and pay fair market value for anything they remove from, public lands and waters.
10. Nearly 20 percent of public lands are congressionally designated as Wilderness. The wilderness character of all designated Wilderness should be preserved and not diminished in any way.
11. Legislation to designate new wilderness should fully reflect and uphold the spirit, intent, and provisions of the 1964 Wilderness Act, and contain no special exceptions that would lessen the protective provisions of the Wilderness Act.
12. Congress must appropriate adequate funding to the federal land management agencies, both to ensure that the agencies are able to carry out their obligations and to forestall any real or perceived need for private funding of public land management.
