One thing you can say about George Bush, when the man decides to do something, his guiding principle does not appear to be moderation, whether its an ill-advised constitutional amendment, a questionable war, or an immoderate nature preserve, in this case, the state of Hawaii. The area is home to diverse species and certainly merits protection. Unfortunately, among the species were a significant number of long-time inhabitants called Hawaiians. Upon hearing that their entire land was declared a nature preserve, they began to pack up and head for California. Environmentalists were delighted with the decision and flew off to the islands to help the natives clear out. Actually, this article itself is immoderate. The new preserve Bush declared a national monument does not, in fact, include all of the Hawaiian Islands. It is limited to a remote Pacific archipelago that is only 1,400 miles long and 100 miles wide. It's inhabited by over 7,000 species, and about a fourth of them are not found anywhere else, including the few Hawaiians who stray in there from time to time. "To put this area in context, Bush said, this national monument is more than 100 times larger than Yosemite National Park. It's larger than 46 of our 50 states, and more than seven times larger than all our national marine sanctuaries combined. This is a big deal." Conrad C. Lautenbacher, who heads up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the outfit that will manage most of it, said, "It's the single-largest act of ocean conservation in history. It's a large milestone." Given the magnitude of the actions the President is likely to entertain, there is some question among those who approach things with more precision as to how often its safe for the man to take action. |
