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SANTA WILL KNOW

Yellowstone Park, and everything else in our nation seems to be getting ready to enter the 21-century. Preparations and references to this change in time appear every where. It reminds me of that Christmas carole "Here Comes Santa Claus". He’s going to see if we have been bad or good. I think we have been a little bit of both-and that’s to be expected while we built the finest nation Western Civilization this century has seen. Santa would not be ashamed of this, but some of us seem to be.

Many folks seem intent on a TIME CAPSULE LEGACY for the park. This time capsule would falsely portray the park as not having changed over time. That man has delivered it to the 21st century untouched by the pros and cons of human actions. What a shame that would be. What lessons would never be taught to those who follow us? The legacy of learning as we go would be hidden in shame. Even Santa would not consider this a proper gift to history.

Yellowstone Park was a un managed treasure before Congress created it in 1872. What saved Yellowstone was management-not lack of management. It is this lack of management or natural approach that many are attempting to reimpose on this vibrant natural wonder which will insure its destruction. Santa would not be happy!

Admittedly, this 19th century management approach came in the commercial form and purposes of the Northern Pacific railroad. A sign of the times. Northern Pacific’s Jay Cooke, who financed the expedition of 1870 to explore Yellowstone, made certain that his agent and prominent Montana citizen Nathaniel Langford recommend that the area not be divided up into small private claims. Their lobbying efforts were successful in having it made in to a park. The federally protected monopoly they gained was Yellowstone’s first strong protection. Santa and Mother Nature are no doubt still delighted with this outcome! Let’s not be ashamed of, or exclude this from 20th century history.

Those who do their homework already know that Congress created the park for the enjoyment of the people and nature appreciation. They also know that these were the words used to persuade Congress to create the park, but that it was commercial interests, lobbied by commercial interests and it was commercial interests that monopolized the park concessions. Perhaps some of you think I bring this up so we can throw darts at commercial interests. Quite the contrary. There’s a question worth asking at this point. How long would it have been, if commercial interests and money and not played a significant role in bringing some type of public protection to this area.

Let’s think about this — do we want to pass along a fairly tale to younger generations — or a story of progress and learning? One of the greatest legacy’s all future generations are going to need and deserve, is the one of how their elders learned from their past. A past where things were done for different reasons with good long term results that we enjoy today. A past of things sometime done right and things sometime done wrong. A past full of learning, not one of remorse that stops things dead in their path. The demands of the 21st century will require a vast resource of knowledge. This resource must bring all the best of things we have learned forward into the 21st century. A knowledge base of what not to do – because we have been there, done that and know it doesn’t work and isn’t best for planet earth our home.

Many civilizations have done things right and wrong. We seem to love passing along every detail of those folks in the name of preserving cultural heritage. Why then should we erase those parts of our history that, if possible, we would redo but can’t. Proof that as a nation we have matured as well as aged, will be determined not only by what we leave to future generations, but also what we do not leave out of the history to which new generations are entitled. The complete legacy of Yellowstone Park cannot be found in the black hole of revisionist history. Santa will know!

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