[darstar]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised , yet another Politican wanting to take away our treasures., and that be Tom Colburn from OK. He released yesterday his annual recommendations to defund the National Park Service , one Park at a time. This time it hits home , right here in Michigan ! Colburns hit list includes Isle Royal and the Kewenaw history park( Dedecated to the Copper mining boom days up there.)

The first thing that comes to my mind, is has this guy ever been up here? When ask He said no,....so the folks in the UP have sent Colbuen a special envite , which seems only proper considering all he knows is the numbers and the profit/ deficit lagging infrastructure that's needed in all our National Parks. It seems He is basing all National Parks justification on the number of visitors. What do you think about this, are Michigan's National Parks not worth saving ?

[jackmichigan]

Sadly, it's mostly a Republican thing. Gone are the days when Republicans were actually conservative and cared about conservation. Now, they're just anti-government and feel that private corporations should control all of our natural assets. They choose to be blind to the tremendous economic benefits from our national treasures, and they seem totally uncaring about any quality of life issues. I grew up Republican so I find it particularly sad that the GOP has fallen so deeply into the abyss. How I long for the days of Governor Milliken--whom I consider Michigan's best Governor in recent history.

[MSwartz]

I fully support Isle Royale but don't know much about the other park really. Isle Royale is like a legend to me, but I'd definitely like to go there one day.

Check out this radio piece that was on The Story with Dick Gordon earlier this year about wolf research on the island.

[arleigh]

This seems to fall in line with the NATO agenda 21 , that's very interesting.Thanks .

[darstar]

The part that makes me angry here, is some Senator from Okla. who has never been to upper Michigan is telling the world that your two national parks are not worth seeing, not worthy , and are hurting the better parks by draining away funds , what a jerk and I don 't care what party he represents, cause we all pay their 175,000 plus salary . Think about it , we as a state are spending a ton of money on the " Pure Michigan" promo all across the country, and here comes some Okie trying to under mine our work and investment!!

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by darstar

I guess I shouldn't be surprised , yet another Politican wanting to take away our treasures., and that be Tom Colburn from OK. He released yesterday his annual recommendations to defund the National Park Service , one Park at a time. This time it hits home , right here in Michigan ! Colburns hit list includes Isle Royal and the Kewenaw history park( Dedecated to the Copper mining boom days up there.)

The first thing that comes to my mind, is has this guy ever been up here? When ask He said no,....so the folks in the UP have sent Colbuen a special envite , which seems only proper considering all he knows is the numbers and the profit/ deficit lagging infrastructure that's needed in all our National Parks. It seems He is basing all National Parks justification on the number of visitors. What do you think about this, are Michigan's National Parks not worth saving ?

I know nothing about this story other than what you stated, but maybe its not such a bad thing and Ill tell you why. The federal government is unreliable and ineficient, and when they have a temper tantrum in Washington they close all those parks anyway. We all saw park rangers become gastapo in order to enforce their political park closures earlier this month. Turn the parks over to the states they reside in, why let those clowns run them. Defunding the park service does not mean the park has to go away, it just means they may end up back in the hands of the states, which IMO is a better situation anyway.

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by danielj72

I know nothing about this story other than what you stated, but maybe its not such a bad thing and Ill tell you why. The federal government is unreliable and ineficient, and when they have a temper tantrum in Washington they close all those parks anyway. We all saw park rangers become gastapo in order to enforce their political park closures earlier this month. Turn the parks over to the states they reside in, why let those clowns run them. Defunding the park service does not mean the park has to go away, it just means they may end up back in the hands of the states, which IMO is a better situation anyway.

This is the type of half-witted thinking that pervades this country today. We, as Americans, should take pride in our national treasures--they belong to all of us. They should not be turned over to state or local entities which might just as easily close them down or sell them to the highest (or even lowest) bidder. "Local" control is not synonymous with better control since the influence of money is even more pronounced in local decisions. We need higher standards and the political will to stand up for them--not some knee-jerk reaction to do away with all things "federal".

[michmoldman]

I was reading Isle Royale only gets a little over 17,000 visitors a year...but has one of the highest return visitor percentage of any National Park in the country. This guy is an azz, and I am almost positive he will not leave the comfort of his office for the beauty of Isle Royale...he might break a nail.

[SpaceGhost79]

National Parks are not a popularity contest. If they were, then sure you could make a case for Isle Royale not to be included. But they are created to preserve the natural beauty of some of the most remarkable and historic pieces of land our country has to offer.

Ever go to Yellowstone in summer time? Thousands of people cramming the roads, blocking traffic so they can stop and stare at every deer they see. Its awful and overcrowded, IMO. Don't get me wrong, Yellowstone is a jewel of this nation, but the fact that Isle Royale has so few visitors doesn't make it any less worthy of National Park status than a place like Yellowstone. A lot of Isle Royale's appeal and charm is the fact that it is so remote and there are so few people there. It's just you and nature, whereas Yellowstone's more of a tourist trap catering more to folks who don't want to walk more than a 100 feet from their cars.

Coburn seems to be basing his report simply on how much money each park generates and nothing more. Sorry, but that's not the way to value a national park's worth.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by danielj72

I know nothing about this story other than what you stated, but maybe its not such a bad thing and Ill tell you why. The federal government is unreliable and ineficient, and when they have a temper tantrum in Washington they close all those parks anyway. We all saw park rangers become gastapo in order to enforce their political park closures earlier this month. Turn the parks over to the states they reside in, why let those clowns run them. Defunding the park service does not mean the park has to go away, it just means they may end up back in the hands of the states, which IMO is a better situation anyway.

What you are trying to say flies in the face of history ,. History that started long ago , and was enhanced by Teddy Roosevelt ( Republican ) . Its not easy to get National Park status , but when it happens , the die becomes cast that we as a nation have just gained another national treasure. There was a time years ago when there was a movement to establish another National Park right here in Marquette County. They even started a road ( rt 35 ) extension miles north into this pristine wilderness of lakes huge old growth white pines and cedars., it included the Huron Islands which did get National wildlife status. The Huron Mtns. are the oldest mts. in the world and once were higher than the Himalayas . The park would have taken most all of what was then already called the Huron Mountain Club , which remains today as maybe the most exclusive retreat with a closed membership of 50 members.In this case big money , big political influence stopped the project cold, they wanted the area to remain as it was hundreds of years ago and the only way they could see this happening was to make access impossible for the masses. OLD money won out over what then was considered progress.. To this very day the Club is still fighting battles in a current federal lawsuit against the Eagle Mine properties which joins the Club property.

It was a good thing HMC did as time has proven that they were successful in stopping millions of people to see this seldom seen treasure.... I do find it interesting that private money was able to close this off from the world, and yet only 50 miles off shore to the north is Isle Royal which Tom Colburn wants to dismantle.I would hate to see old money, a foreign enterprise, or a consortium of investors come in and buy one of the last wilderness areas in our country. It could happen if the Park were to loose its National Park status, and that would be a crying shame behond all proportions !