By MARSHA MERCER
From the maddeningly crammed streets and vulgar displays
along the Virginia Beach oceanfront, it’s only a 40-minute drive to the peaceful
and scenic Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Back Bay -- a 9,100-acre barrier island preserve of island marshes,
maritime forests and pristine beaches – was established by President Franklin
Roosevelt by proclamation in 1938 as a haven and breeding ground for migratory
birds and other wildlife.
More than 120,000
people visit the refuge every year, most to watch the 10,000 snow geese and
ducks that fly over Back Bay during the peak of the winter migration. Even in
the off season, though, there’s plenty to see. Herons and snowy egrets pose
majestically. Turtles sun themselves on log rivieras and snakes, naturally, slither.
On the Blue Goose Express, an open air tram, local history
buff Bob Baxter leads visitors back in time. A century ago, the area was dotted
with duck hunting lodges, visited by wealthy industrialists. Life-saving
stations every seven miles along the coast plucked unfortunate mariners from
the sea.
We take a short hike to historic Wash Woods in False Cape
State Park, which adjoins Back Bay. All that remains of the remote community of
farmers, fishermen and hunters and a church that seated 300 worshippers are the
steeple and about a dozen tombstones under whispering live oaks.
About 47 million people will flee urban noise and stress for
the tranquility of national refuges this year.
Visitors will savor birdsong and
unspoiled scenery; they’ll take pictures, swim and camp.
Few may think about how important presidents have been in
keeping our wild spaces in citizens’ hands.
Since Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill establishing Yellowstone
as the first national park in 1872, presidents have played a crucial role in
conservation.
“I will do everything in my power to protect . . . great
natural beauties of this country,” vowed Theodore Roosevelt, who enjoyed being
president because he liked having “my hand on the lever.”
The 26th president set aside 230 million acres in
public land and created 150 national forests, 51 bird reserves, four national
game preserves, five national parks and 18 national monuments.
He left his successors the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives
the president or Congress the power to designate national monuments. The
president can act unilaterally.
He’s no TR, but Obama still could leave a conservation
legacy.
“I’ve preserved more than 3 million acres of public lands
for future generations. And I am not finished,”
Obama said May 21 when he used the
Antiquities Act to create the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument,
protecting half a million acres in New Mexico.
But the congressional resistance Obama faces extends even to
conservation. Dozens of bills that would protect lands and wildlife are stalled
in Congress.
In February, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed rules to
regulate oil and gas production on the national refuge system. Yes, more than 200 wildlife refuges have
existing oil and gas infrastructure and 100 have active oil and gas wells.
The government owns the land but not the oil and gas mineral
rights beneath the ground, and the government lacks the authority to regulate
private oil and gas development on the refuges. That’s why it has proposed
rules.
Noah Matson, vice president of
Lands Conservation for Defenders of Wildlife, warned a House panel May 20 of
instances on wildlife refuges of oil drums oozing toxic chemicals, oil-topped
open waste ponds, abandoned storage tanks and rusted, leaking oil pipes “fixed”
with plastic bags and duct tape.
Two Louisiana Republicans on the committee blasted
Matson for his “emotional” testimony and for failing to credit the “innovative”
fixes.
Republicans also want to curb presidential power under the
Antiquities Act, which presidents of both parties have used. Obama has used the act 11 times, starting in November 2011 with
the Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Va.
The House voted in March to limit the president’s power to
designate monuments, requiring reviews under the National Environmental Policy
Act. The bill has little chance in the current Senate because the Democratic majority
is opposed.
When signing the order designating Organ Mountains a
national monument, Obama said he understands “our obligation to be good
stewards to the next generation – to make sure that our children’s children get
the same chance to experience all of these natural wonders.”
He needs to follow TR’s lead, keep his hand on the lever and
follow through on his conservation promises.
© 2014 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
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