With the recent wrongful termination of thousands of National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service employees, Western North Carolina’s public lands were just dealt a massive blow. These layoffs come at a time where we desperately need more funding for public land management agencies to account for Helene damage, increased outdoor recreation and ecological threats.
Predictably, these layoffs will likely lead to local trail closures and reduced tourism, as the agencies’ limited staff (who were already stretched thin) will not be able to repair and maintain these areas. Local wildlife species are also at risk.
But the most concerning development here can be traced back to an executive order from January.
On Jan. 20, the president issued an executive order declaring a “National Energy Emergency,” despite the fact that U.S. energy production exceeds consumption by the widest-recorded margin since 1949. The order states that agency and executive department heads may use “any lawful emergency authorities available to them” to “facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining and generation of domestic energy resources … on federal lands.”
In other words, national parks and forests will be targeted for increased oil drilling and mining (the order notably omits solar, wind and other renewables as permissible energy types).
When looked at independently, the layoffs are concerning and disheartening enough. When viewed in tandem with January’s executive order, they paint a terrifying picture of an administration that appears to be gutting federal land management agencies in preparation of an unprecedented land grab for the sake of additional fossil fuel development.
While political polarization may have soared to extreme levels over recent years, I hope most of us here in WNC can agree that we want to protect — not develop — our forests.
— Rob M. Campbell
Asheville
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