Insult to our lands

I’m an “outsider,” a “tourist,” a “visitor” to Jackson, although I’ve spent a number of weeks in the area each summer for the last 15 years. I have no right to speak about how land should be used in Jackson. That’s for the citizens of Jackson to debate.

But, I feel, I have a right and a duty to speak for the land in Grand Teton National Park. It is “public land” and, regardless of where I live, as a citizen of this country I have an interest in what happens on public land. I am one small voice, but perhaps there are others who might see things the way I do.

My wife and I spend several weeks each year in the park. My favorite area is the Antelope Flats area, an area rich in wildlife. One of our favorite joys is to walk Mormon Row and observe the bison, antelope, and the rich variety of birds that live there. This year we were met with a different scenario — approximately 500 to 800 cattle, contained by electric fencing within an area of about a square mile. The land within the fenced area was devastated after a couple of weeks of grazing. In some places there was hardly a blade of grass remaining, few, if any, wildflowers to be seen, and not even a singing Savannah Sparrow (It had no nesting habitat left to sing about!).

I watched with horror as the cattle were moved from place to place, confined, and allowed to denude the landscape. Yes, I took some pictures.

I know that grazing is a sensitive political issue in the West. I’m not against grazing on all public lands. But in a national park? Doesn’t that violate the basic principal of a national park — to preserve the native fauna and flora of the area? Cattle hardly qualify as a native species. In fact, I understand there were only a few cattle in the Jackson valley before the 20th century! In an effort to save native plants, Teton park works hard to extirpate “exotic” non-native species of plants, such as the musk thistle and the yellow sweetclover. What gives non-native cattle the special right to graze at public expense, to destroy these native plants, and to ravage the habitat of ground-nesting birds in a national park?

I am aware that there are historical, “mitigating” circumstances that surround this issue, and I am willing to be educated by more knowledgeable people about the intricacies of the problem. But my gut tells me grazing in Grand Teton National Park is wrong. Wrong to give specific ranchers a free lunch at the expense of the taxpayer. Wrong for the national park to give special dispensation to a few ranchers by extending grazing rights. Wrong to allow grazing in the park as a rationalization to preserve open space in the Jackson valley.

Our public lands should not be held hostage to the political clout of a few who want to use these lands as a private feeding trough. The park should not bend to those who try to blackmail a community by threatening the development of their private lands if they aren’t allowed to graze their cattle in the park. The park is not responsible for a rancher’s economic well-being nor to Jackson’s need for open space. There are other ways to accomplish that goal. The park exists to protect the integrity of the natural environment for the enjoyment of all citizens. And for some of us there are deep-seated spiritual values attached to the preservation of the natural environment.

I’m usually not considered a wild-eyed radical activist by my friends and associates. In fact, I’m a very private person who prefers anonymity. However, I feel I must respond publicly to this insult to our public lands. I invite anyone’s response, either pro or con, regarding this issue by writing to the newspaper and/or writing me at my e-mail address: taiqi99@hotmail.com. If you want pictures, I’ll send them.

Richard Wright,
Friday Harbor, Wash.