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| OUR NATION'S PARKS A Forum with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt May 23, 1997 |
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Questions Sec. Babbitt answered in this forum:
Should cars be banned from national parks? How should forest fires be handled? Why are visits to the Grand Teton or the Grand Canyon so expensive? Does the federal government give mining companies sweetheart deals? Could special tax incentives provide money for the parks? Does the federal government promote clearcutting forests? What was Sec. Babbitt's best experience being part of a National Park Service firefighter? Viewer Comments
NewsHour Backgrounders
March 9, 1997:
Interesting coalitions have developed around the fight for rights to the water flowing down the Animus and the La Plata rivers in Colorado.
March 3, 1997:
Spencer Michels reports on efforts to rebuilt Yosemite National Parks after this year's devastating floods.
April 30, 1996:
Tom Bearden reports on efforts to restore the Colorado River's eco-system by flooding it.
Browse the NewsHour's index of environmental issues.
Outside Links
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History of the National Park Service
Interior Sec. Bruce Babbitt
Department of the Interior
Greg Flynn of Maywood, NJ, asks: Would it be possible to make more of our national parks wilderness preserves instead of parks by banning cars? It seems to me that people who really appreciate nature would be willing to walk to get there, don't you agree?
Secretary Babbitt responds:
Good question, Greg. Some of our parks are getting So congested with care that it’s looking like Times Square out there.
Unfortunately, too many Americans don't get the best experience they could at places like Yosemite National Park. They drive in, perhaps step out of the car two or three times, and then drive out. That's not the way I visit a park, and it doesn't sound like the way you do, either.
Just last year, Yosemite had to shut its gates to autos 11 times, because the entire park was bumper-to-bumper. I said recently in a television interview that we're going to have to put in a reservation system next year--for cars, not for people. Any time you're willing to leave your car at the gate, you’re in, as long as I'm in this job. We can't ban cars from the parks, because the parks belong to everyone. We can, however, work overtime at trying to convince people that they can have a much better experience if they get out and hike, or at least take park transportation and "leave the driving to us," as it were- But I tell anyone who’s willing to listen that the real beauty of the parks isn't at the roadside. It’s up and down the trails, in the woods and in the meadows.
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