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>From Derek:<br>
<pre>for all vips. please be aware that loaded weapons are now allowed in
national parks.
Derek Lohuis
Channel Islands National Park
1901 Spinnaker Dr.
Ventura, CA 93001
805-658-5736
</pre>
<blockquote>Boston (MA) Globe<br>
Tuesday, December 16, 2008<br>
<br>
Keep guns out of the parks<br>
<br>
By Derrick Z. Jackson<br>
<br>
ENDING A 25-year-old ban, the Department of the Interior announced on
Dec.<br>
5 that people who have a concealed weapons permit in their state can
bring<br>
a loaded weapon into national parks, forests, and refuges. A week later,<br>
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne confirmed what supporters of the<br>
Endangered Species Act have dreaded all year by issuing a ruling that
lets<br>
individual federal agencies decide themselves whether their projects
harm<br>
the environment - without being forced to consult with wildlife
scientists.<br>
<br>
This completes eight years of political cruelty to animals and a final<br>
imposition of the National Rifle Association on what is left of public<br>
serenity in America - our shared natural sanctuaries. Critters and
plants<br>
have less protection, and now humans have to wonder what is more
dangerous:<br>
an alligator along the trail in the Everglades or the loaded camper<br>
carrying a loaded weapon.<br>
<br>
The lifting of the loaded gun ban was opposed by nearly everyone who
works<br>
or has worked in a national park. The Association of National Park
Rangers,<br>
the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, the National Parks<br>
Conservation Association, and the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of<br>
Police (which advocates for park rangers) expressed disappointment at
the<br>
action by the Interior Department. Under the expiring regulations, you<br>
could bring an unloaded weapon into a park, as long as it remained in a
car<br>
trunk or other less-accessible location.<br>
<br>
Citing concerns about a possible increase in poaching and a federal<br>
statistic that only 1.65 violent crimes occur per 100,000 visitors in<br>
national parks, the organizations wrote in a joint letter on Dec. 5,<br>
"National parks are different from other public lands. The visitor<br>
population expects, demands and gets a higher degree of protection,<br>
enforcement and restriction in a national park. Furthermore, while
national<br>
parks are amongst the safest areas to be in, the toll on the US Park
Ranger<br>
is high: US Park Rangers are the most assaulted federal officers in the<br>
country. This vague, wide-open regulation will only increase the
danger."<br>
<br>
To put in perspective how nuts the lifting of the ban is, it was enacted<br>
under President Reagan's Interior secretary, James Watt. Watt was so<br>
criticized by environmentalists that the great national park landscape<br>
photographer Ansel Adams called him "one of the most dangerous
government<br>
officials in history." Of Reagan's environmental policies in general,
Adams<br>
said, "The flow of bilge from the Reagan administration is a blot upon
our<br>
history of literacy."<br>
<br>
If that environmentally illiterate administration saw fit to ban loaded<br>
guns in the parks a quarter-century ago, what does that make the Bush<br>
administration? The lifting of the gun ban and the lowering of the gate<br>
against scientists cap an era where wildlife refuge staffing has fallen
8.4<br>
percent since 2004, according to a Government Accountability Office
report<br>
this fall. Real purchasing power for the refuges has fallen by 11
percent<br>
since 2003.<br>
<br>
Most ironically, the acts come in the wake of an independent report last<br>
summer commissioned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that found that
the<br>
law enforcement staff at our refuges needs to increase from 200
full-time<br>
officers to at least 400. "Low staffing levels are leading to a
substantial<br>
and critical lack of law enforcement coverage and capability at many<br>
refuges across the system. At many refuges, law enforcement coverage is<br>
insufficient to ensure the protection of resources and the safety of<br>
visitors and refuge staff."<br>
<br>
Yet the solution by the Bush administration is to starve law enforcement<br>
and general staff, cut off the scientists, and flood the parks and
refuges<br>
with loaded guns. This has to be a priority for the Obama administration<br>
and a Democratic-led Congress to overturn. We cannot allow our sacred<br>
places to become the wild west.<br>
<br>
Derrick Z. Jackson can be reached at <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jackson@globe.com">jackson@globe.com</a>.<br>
</blockquote>
<pre>
</pre>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Clare Fritzsche
Volunteer Administration
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Channel Islands National Park
Schedule for week of December 15:
TUE - 8am-12pm & 2-6pm, Santa Barbara (805) 966-7107 x366
WED - 8am-12pm & 2-6pm, Santa Barbara (805) 966-7107 x366
THU- 9:30am-11am, Oxnard (805) 382-6149 x105
2-6pm, Santa Barbara (805) 966-7107 x366
FRI - 8am-12pm & 2-6pm, Santa Barbara (805) 966-7107 x366
Cellular: (805) 729-0127
Santa Barbara FAX: (805) 568-1582</pre>
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