Say NO! to National Park Service Rewrite

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The comment period for the proposed rewrite of the Management Policies
governing the national park system ends tomorrow night, February 18th and is
open until 11:59 p.m., and we need you to tell the National Park Service no
to the massive rewrite of the Management Policies governing the park system.
Act now! to defend our parks.

The current draft dilutes the National Parks' basic mandate of conservation
by telling managers they must balance nature against human enjoyment,
defined as an array of commercial, recreational and social uses.

In scores of subtle wording changes, natural resource protections are
weakened, but never strengthened -

o  Rules prohibiting industrial air pollution from beclouding park vistas
are softened so as to be unenforceable;

o  Millions of acres of potential wilderness in park backcountry could be
carved with trails, roads and other developments;

o  Values such as "peace and tranquility" and protection of "natural
soundscapes" are jettisoned, so as not to interfere with the chirp of the
cell phone or the deep-throated roar of the snowmobile.

1) National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies - Action Alert
At Issue: The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing a rewrite of the NPS
Management
Policies that would fundamentally shift the policies governing the
management of all our
national parks. The philosophy of management for America's parks would
change from one of
conservation to that of commercialization.

Action Needed: Public comments are due by February 18, 2006. Send your
comments via the
web page at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/waso or by email to
[log in to unmask], or by mail
to Bernard Fagan, NPS, Office of Policy, Room 7252, Main Interior Building,
1849 C Street,
NW, Washington, DC 20240.

Sierra Club Message: Oppose the NPS Management Polices rewrite. For more
specific
information on Sierra Club's concerns click on
http://www.sierraclub.org/lands/national_parks/

Sample letter to National Park Service NPS regarding Management Policies
rewrite
(Start with some personal information and reasons why you care about the
parks.)

The National Park Service's proposed rewrite of the NPS Management Policies
would
fundamentally shift how our nation's national parks would be managed.
America's national
parks are great natural treasures; but their protection will be at risk if
the changes proposed by
NPS are adopted. We strongly urge you to abandon the rewrite process.

The 2005 draft NPS Management Policies are fundamentally flawed and cannot
be fixed. The proposed policies fail to meet the current level of protection
afforded our National Parks; they eliminate numerous provisions in the 2001
document, including reference to the National Park Service's 1916 Organic
Act mission to conserve parks for future generations; and they fall short in
providing clarity of guidance to national park managers.

The draft NPS Management Policies would limit the National Park Service's
ability to protect air quality and soundscapes, to control inappropriate
motorized use in national parks, and to appropriately preserve historic and
cultural sites.

The changes proposed create confusion over that fact that conservation is,
and should remain, the single purpose of National Park Service management
decisions.

National Parks are America's special places and should be preserved for
future generations. More than 90 percent of the public rates its experiences
in the national parks as good to excellent. National park visitors come for
a variety of reasons, scenic beauty, solitude, and spirituality. What the
public doesn't want more of, according to recent polling, is
commercialization, inappropriate use of off-road vehicles, and other threats
to a memorable park experience. I strongly oppose the far-reaching changes
being proposed in the NPS Management Policies proposal rewrite.

(end with a personal message)
Name, (required)
Address (required)
City/ZIP (required)
e-mail address

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