Preserving parks for next 100 years

After serving as president, Theodore Roosevelt exhorted:

“Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land an even better land for our descendants than it is for us.”

One hundred years ago, Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Stephen T. Mather, and Charles Young set out to preserve our nation’s crown jewels.

They laid the foundation for the National Park Service to protect, preserve, and promote our nation’s spectacular, unspoiled nature, our wild and pristine places, our wildlife, our culture, and our heritage.

Nowhere — in my completely unbiased opinion — does this mission resonate more than in Montana.

It is an honor to join you — the talented artists, the esteemed public servants, and the more than 6,000 strong that gather — for this celebration at the Gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

I’d like to think Montana claims this park more than Wyoming does — something I’m sure my friend Gov. Matt Mead and I disagree on.

But the fact is, Yellowstone predates both Wyoming and Montana by almost an entire generation. And political boundaries aside, we both enjoy the benefits of an economy that comes with more than 4 million visitors per year.

The visitors stay in our hotels. They eat in our restaurants. They visit other parts of our states. They buy gas and fishing licenses and souvenirs. And hopefully, they leave understanding that Yellowstone is more than just an interesting place to visit.

It’s an American idea worth protecting.

Think about it. Here, in this spot, a spot that humans have visited for at least 11,000 years, the idea of protecting America’s most treasured landscapes was born. First came Yellowstone. Then came the National Park Service.

Ever since Yellowstone’s founding, a full 44 years before there was a Park Service, Montanans took the lead in being responsible stewards of this land, its water and its wildlife. 

We haven’t always gotten it right. In the very early years, poaching was such a problem the Army was called in. Generations later, when I was a young Montanan visiting here, the park was still feeding grizzly bears at the landfill.

But over time, we’ve gotten better and better at getting it right. We’ve listened to and learned from the landscape and from what science tells us. And from what our values tell us: 

What would have happened 144 years ago if people hadn’t noticed that this place needed protection — was worth protection? What would have happened 100 years ago if America hadn’t decided to work together to protect some of our most remarkable places?

Let this be a lesson to us here today. For the next 100 years, we have a responsibility to preserve and protect our public lands, our clean air and water that inspire millions to visit our state, drive the economies of our gateway communities, and support thousands of jobs for Montanans.

And just as the last 100 years brought challenges to the parks and the lands surrounding them, no doubt we will face hurdles in the next 100. From adequate funding, to sharing these landscapes with rebounding populations of grizzly bears, wolves, bison and elk, to dealing with the consequences of record-high temperatures and low water levels, we know we will be tested, and they are tests we cannot afford to fail.

While we celebrate these treasures that all Americans can claim as their own, my fellow Montanans and I are avid users of our National Parks and public lands. Four out of five of us have enjoyed public lands in the past year. Three in five have visited a national park over the past year. An overwhelming majority of them reported a “positive experience.”

Maybe that’s why so many Montanans reject this notion of transferring our public lands to the states. We all know it’s the first step toward selling them off to the highest bidder.

And let us not forget the lessons of history. When this park was protected, it was done so to literally save it from public auction. Thank God America had the foresight then.

It’s a lesson I take to heart. That’s why I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen: Selling off public lands will never happen in Montana on my watch. We owe future generations more than this.

We can learn from the past, and be inspired by it as well. I will never forget the first time my children witnessed Old Faithful, or hiked to Iceberg Lake in Glacier. 

I will never forget their wonderment at seeing the wild creatures that inhabit these lands. And, I have no doubt, that looking a generation into the future, my kids will never forget the first time their children experience the wonders of this park as well.

Thank you for being part of this celebration today. Thank you, Secretary Jewell, for putting the “service” in “National Park Service.” We have a lot of work to do to make sure America’s best idea is never sidelined by gridlock or partisanship, or, perhaps worse, complacency and neglect.

We owe it to those generations to make responsible decisions at every turn. To ensure that 100 years from now, our children’s, children’s children will bring their families to Yellowstone National Park, and that they will experience Montana and all it has to offer, along the way.

Indeed, we share the “central task of leaving this land an even better land for our descendants than it is for us.” As we join in this centennial celebration of the Park Service, let us recommit ourselves to protecting, preserving and promoting these national treasures. 

Bullock, a Helena Democrats, is Montana’s governor.