You may see hippos, among other creatures, in the future wearing protective clothing to enable them to breathe. The destruction of forests is causing many problems, one of which being the loss of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Public land destruction in the United States is a national problem that WC students are trying to solve.
All across the U.S., forests being cleared for road-building and lumber are causing this destruction. In Alaska, caribou and polar bears on the coastal plain of a wildlife refuge, which is threatened by oil drilling, are in danger. In Utah, mining and off-road vehicle abuse are causing 9.1 million acres of Utah's redrock canyons to be destroyed.
Freshman Adrienne Nash, a member of both Campus Greens and Student Environmental Alliance (SEA), is fighting against the destruction of public lands.
Nash is going to attend the Public Lands Action Summit, sponsored by the Sierra Student Coalition, at which 150 students will learn lobbying skills from leading activists. High school and college activists will speak with senators and representatives on Capitol Hill.
The goal of these students is to convince Congress to decrease the amount of public land that is used for unnecessary purposes. Areas for fishing, hunting and hiking, according to Nash, will be limited to only a few public places in the future, due to corporate exploitation and poor legislative policies.
Nash addressed forest demolishing by explaining that it causes floods, habitat destruction and avalanches and reduces the amount of oxygen in the air. According to Nash, the U.S. has even shipped trees to other countries.
Nash admires countries such as Denmark and Switzerland because these countries use trees efficiently. Nash also promotes the idea of giving back what you have taken, or replacing cut trees.
Nash stated, "Sometimes I think that because we have so much (land, technology, resources, supplies), we take for granted that we chop down trees everyday for absurd purposes."
Nash supported this statement, saying that most of the paper products in the U.S. are recyclable.
Gia Grier, a senior at WC, researched U.S. oil drilling in Anchorage over winter break. Grier said that the drilling could "wipe out the wildlife living along the fragile coastal area."
Senior Jeremy Gantz, the head of Campus Greens and a member of SEA, explained that U.S. Republicans no longer want to be dependent on middle-eastern countries for oil, which leaves the option of drilling in Alaska.
Recently, Gantz sent a letter to Congress addressing the issue of arctic drilling. Writing letters and signing petitions is the current extent of Gantz's involvement in the issue. Although he does not agree with eco-terrorism, Gantz discussed certain radical groups burning down new developments to revolt against construction on cleared forests. When discussing his feelings on public land destruction, Gantz stated, "Money is more powerful than our appreciation for the natural world."
Gantz discussed public land destruction as a local issue as well. According to Gantz, in Chestertown, major issues arise out of farmland loss, sprawl, and agricultural pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay due to construction.
Petitions from the Internet are often signed by SEA President and Campus Green member Melissa Farmer.
SEA members' involvement in public land destruction involves writing letters to Congress concerning public lands; Farmer recently sent a letter promoting the rescue of the canyons in Utah, which are mostly being destroyed due to mining.
"Wild Utah" was a lecture given on Wednesday, February 20 in the Casey Academic Center that informed students of the destruction occurring in the redrocks in Utah.
These WC students hope that their involvement in public land destruction will influence the government's decisions about subsidizing public land.
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