Bush Eyes Unprecedented Conservation Program

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90766237

Environment

Bush Eyes Unprecedented Conservation Program

by John Nielsen and David Malakoff

All Things Considered, May 23, 2008 · The Bush administration is considering launching one of the biggest conservation programs in U.S. history.

If implemented, President George W. Bush could, with the stroke of a pen, protect vast stretches of U.S. territorial waters from fishing, oil exploration and other forms of commercial development. The initiative could also create some of the largest marine reserves in the world — far larger than national parks like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon.

The White House is thinking about taking "big steps, not small ones," says Jack Sobel, a senior scientist at the Washington-based Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group.

A spokesman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality confirmed that the administration is considering the initiative but declined to discuss details, saying they are still under review.

...

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Anything to try to get a favorable legacy?? I can't imagine this coming from Bush.

[Vincardog]

3. No he will declare the whole PAcific ocean as protected US territory To be named

Little Boot's watter park. Caligula lives ad needs his diaper changed

[hatrack]

2. Blah blah blah blah blah . . .

Note - above "blahblahblah" Not directed at you, OK!! :toast:

Kind of like the Hawaiian Marine Reserve - nice idea, lousy execution. Too bad that the whole area will likely be ecologicaly dead within the next few decades thanks to ocean acidification & warming. It's kind of like donating a Van Gogh to a museum, but attaching a codicil that it be hung over a radiator.

[DCKit]

4. "Gerrymandering" will take on a whole new meaning...

when they draw the lines to avoid any potential areas of petroleum deposits.

God forbid we simply prohibit any more drag-net, factory ship fishing and save what's left while still keeping it productive for smaller, less destructive operations.