ALASKA

                                                       

I just returned from a vacation in Alaska and being the nature lover I am, you can guess how happy I was. For you see Alaska is nature on steroids. I went there hoping that it was going to match my expectations and came home to say, “It far exceeded my expectations.” There are no words to do justice to it. It is called the “Last surviving Frontier” and although that is fitting, that title smacks of cynicism, as if that is a temporary title, soon to be replaced by the words “It was the last surviving frontier.” The signs of its demise are starting to show, and how soon it will be called that, depends on how soon man can ruin it.

When I speak of man ruining the earth I acknowledge that much of what happens is inadvertent and that just by being here and contributing to the waste products that are the culprits for our demise, we bear responsibility even though for the most part this was not our intention. Once we get to this point instead of the attitude that many in our country have.-- The attitude that says, “Lie about it and say it isn’t so,” then at least we have something to work with. We may not be able to solve the problem completely but at least we can put it off so future generations can enjoy it also. Those who scoff at this need only to go to Alaska and see the evidence of melting glaciers and disappearing wildlife because you can only lie about it so long before reality bites you in the butt and then only a fool will believe the lies.

Discussions are being held all over this country about where to drill for oil and what to do with public lands. The money barons see the outcome only in their pocket books and not what’s good for the country they don’t see what John Muier saw when he founded our National Park system. Their greed is a parasitic action that in the end allows you neither the wilderness nor the wildlife. But they don’t care because its what is in the bottom line of their ledger book that counts and not what is done to this earth. In some cases, it is intrusive enough to just let the people in our national parks to look; the balance is that delicate but to be realistic that has to happen.

We as a society have done much to destroy our country because we can’t get along with each other. We have seemingly insurmountable drug problems in our country. We have a country teetering on the edge of financial ruin. We have a dysfunctional government that can’t get anything done and can’t give us a decent candidate to vote for. We have a country that once had common sense rules against much of this but in an effort to be everybody’s friend we threw out the rulebook and much of what we brought back as rules, is the reason for the animosity and leniency for those who won’t live by the rules. But even all of that is fixable. Even if it takes a new society to do it and it may well be. Destroying our environment however is a whole new ball game. Once a species is gone it’s gone. Once a glacier melts and the seas rise and not only destroy our environment but the homes of Gods creatures with it, there is no fix. Alaska may be our last chance to get it right.