Chris D’Angelo, Huffington Post’s environment reporter, recently tweeted: “GOP Sens. Cory Gardner and Steve Daines, who have backed Trump’s anti-conservation agenda at nearly every turn, are now fighting to shore up funding for public lands. Both face a tough road to reelection in 2020.”
This statement is problematic and visibly inaccurate.
First, regardless of your personal feelings about President Trump, his Department of Interior has advanced true conservation policies. Of the agency’s many accomplishments thus far, opening over four million acres of federal public lands for hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities is chief among them.
Second, Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Steve Daines (R-MT)—while up for re-election— shouldn’t have their conservationist credentials questioned. The former has sponsored close to 100 conservation bills since entering Congress in 2011, while the latter was dubbed a “Conservative Conservationist” in 2015.
I rebooted this column to help showcase how conservatism and conservation aren’t at odds with one another. In fact, the two actually work in sync.
Don’t Confuse Conservation With Preservation
Make no mistake: today’s environmentalism, with its anti-capitalist fervor and progressive tendencies, isn’t rooted in conservation. It’s rooted in preservation. These two contrasting views on stewardship and natural resources management need to be distinguished.
The National Park Service (NPS) helps clear the air: “Conservation is generally associated with the protection of natural resources, while preservation is associated with the protection of buildings, objects, and landscapes. Put simply conservation seeks the proper use of nature, while preservation seeks protection of nature from use.”
Many preservationists openly oppose the balanced use or multiple-use management of public lands. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) defines multiple-use as “supporting an all-of-the-above energy approach through environmentally responsible development; promoting conservation through shared stewardship; managing our borders effectively; promoting jobs on working landscapes; and serving the American family – which includes being good neighbors and recognizing traditional uses of public lands (i.e., hunting, fishing, and other recreational opportunities).”