Shikahogh and President Bush
By Moorad Mooradian, PhD
September 19, 2005

What is the connection between the scratched plans in Armenia to destroy the Shikahogh Nature Reserve and Pres. G.W. Bush? Nothing directly. But the mindset that is willing to rape nature for commercial gains knows no ocean barriers or land boundaries.

Armenia Tree Project (ATP) helped the in-country organizations to get the Shikahogh plans shelved in favor of an alternative route for the road that would allow the reserve to maintain its pristine nature. The decision of the Armenian government to abide by the wishes of a huge segment of the Armenian population and many people in the Diaspora gives hope that democracy may be taking firmer root in Armenia than many people suspect.

In the US, we do not dwell on the perspectives for democracy because we assume that it is already a fact. We Americans do not approve of secret dealings as a means of handling taxpayer concerns, since it smacks of totalitarianism. In a democracy, the taxpayers/voters are entitled to participate in the deliberations that impact on themselves and posterity. Somewhere along the line the Bushies lost sight of that fact. Perhaps it is the arrogance of controlling both houses of Congress and the White House. It is an arrogance that also infected the Democrats that led to them becoming the minority power. It is a fear that many Republican incumbents that must run again face during the next national elections.

Shikahogh was saved with public outcry. But it appears that no matter what the public demands from the Bush Administration about the US National Parks, the Bushies are in office, having won the last time around, and since “Dubya” is prohibited by law from running again the citizen voice is not as important as it was before Mr. Bush defeated John Kerry.

A secret draft revision of the National Park system basic management policy is making its rounds in the Interior Department as I write. It was prepared by Paul Hoffman, a Bush political appointee. Mr. Hoffman, now a deputy assistant secretary at Interior, used to run the Chamber of Commerce in Cody, Wyoming. But more importantly he used to be a Congressional aide to VP Dick Cheney. Now exactly how much experience does Mr. Hoffman have in park service works? NONE!

As is the growing custom with Bush appointees throughout the federal government, Mr. Hoffman consulted none of the experienced, long tenured people in the National Park Service before sending the secret draft to re-make National Park rules to the Department of Interior. The primary reason is that the change in rules is an opportunity to reduce the protection of the parks into commercial enterprises that elicit a sparkle in the eyes of the right wing corporate Christian zealots by whom Pres. Bush has been captured.

First, the secret draft takes away the protections against impairing park resources (landscape, wildlife, soundscape of Yellowstone National Park, etc.) as the “fundamental purpose” of the park service. Mr. Hoffman now wants “impairment” to be reduced to “one of the purposes.” He has changed meanings of sentences with the word “protect” to “conserve.” These apparently subtle changes will open up nearly every park in the nation to off-road vehicles, snowmobiles and jet skis. One of the changes would make the use of these vehicles a primary purpose of the parks.

In an effort to circumvent complaints and to accommodate and encourage the use of these vehicles, he has redefined impairment to mean “an irreversible impact.” In other words, it is fine for these vehicles to do damage so long as the raped areas can be fixed by man or nature. Without question, we are talking about taxes being utilized to fix what the users of these vehicles tear up or pollute. Obviously the manufactures of these vehicles are smiling, as are the oil and gas tycoons that ring up higher earnings with every rise in the price of a barrel of crude. In order to ascertain that the activities are impairing the parks, Mr. Hoffman insists that it would have to be proven that the damage is irreversible. This is a very high standard of proof that numerous lawyers know will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prove in a court of law.

Part of the joy of visiting the national parks is the pristine nature of their characteristics. One gets pleasure from hearing birds, the cry of wild beasts, and the rustling sounds of brooks, rivers, and trees. Left up to Mr. Hoffman, the natural sounds of nature will be drowned out by the roar of the engines; the landscape will be chewed up by cross-country vehicles, logging companies will fell 100 year or older trees for lumber to ostensibly hack trails into the forest for the vehicles to traverse. The smell of clean forests will be replaced by the acrid smell of the exhaust fumes. Exaggeration? Not on your life. Just go to one of the places that have been opened to these type vehicles and see if you do not come away with ringing ears from the noise and an assaulted system of smell from the exhausts.

By that is not the end of it. Up to now the national parks have been prohibited from pushing any religion agenda. Mr. Hoffman bows to the religious right and would approve the sale of religious merchandise in the authorized park eating and merchandise selling establishments. But there is a hooker. Mr. Hoffman wants all references to evolution removed. This is absolutely mind boggling. If this document survives I doubt that it will stand up in the courts. It will most likely be challenged as a violation of the separation of church and state.

Other rules sought by Mr. Hoffman place the management of the national parks under local and state control. The states are having a difficult time maintaining the state parks in any reasonable condition. Imagine placing the national parks under their charges with more political appointees like Mr. Hoffman, but only on a local level. Mr. Hoffman also wants a much wider range of commercial activity. Just think how great Yellowstone will look with billboards advertising all kinds of products.

The career employees of Interior and the National Park Service have quickly distanced themselves from this revision. However, the Bush appointees in the Interior Department that wish to commercialize the parks want to have their way. Commercialization of the parks has come about partly because Mr. Bush has no intention of living up to his campaign promises of fully funding the national parks. Nope, we need more smart bombs for Iraq. And you think that Armenian politicians are hacks? Left up to the Bushies, our American posterity will visit commercial parking lots out in the country for a day.

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