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Conservation versus Preservation

SCI/275

Conservation versus Preservation Dear Virginia Pilot Editors, I believe it is with a high importance that I write you this letter. I wanted to inform you and your team about the importance of the conservation of natural resources within the Bridger Teton National Forest; in hopes that you can publish this information and spread the word. A little bit of information on this particular forest; it is located in Western Wyoming and has over 3.4 million acres of public land. It is also a very big part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It offers many visitors outdoor enjoyment in the wilderness with many miles of roads and trails and thousands of miles of unspoiled rivers and streams. I believe that the conservation on the Bridger Teton National Forest is important because of the natural resources present within the forest and how it and help out our country. One of the beneficial resources that could be found within the forest lands are oil. We could drill oil and lower our dependency on foreign oil. It will increase popularity to the forest as well as lower our fuel costs and create many jobs. Some of the profits from the drilling could go directly toward the conservation programs set up for the National Forest. With the increase of visitors to the area and the creation of the conservation programs also contribute to the increase of jobs in the local areas. In conclusion, by creating an alternative drilling source for our country it will increase jobs, tourism, and lower our dependency on foreign oil. It will help out our economy on a local and international level. It will help gain recognition and financial aid in the conservation programs for the Bridger Teton National Forest. The drilling companies would be forced to strict drilling procedures where the least possible harm would be done to the land and environment. These companies would also be responsible for the rebuilding of the land that they

destroy by donating to the conservation programs of the National Forest, so that the beauty of the land is not compromised. I hope you have considered publishing this article, so that your readers can be aware of the possibility of alternative oil resources and helping to make this a reality in our future. VR,

Dear Virginia Pilot Editors, I recently read an article in your newspaper that was discussing the benefits of using the resources within the Bridger Teton National Forest. I am writing you so that you can hear my view of why we should be fighting to ensure that we preserve the natural resources. Despite the claims that there are safer ways to drill so that the environment will not be affected is easily rebuked when following a risk management assessment. By following through the four steps I will go over, you can clearly see how it can affect the environment and the natural resources. The first step is Hazard Identification, and it helps to indicate some of the hazard associated with drilling oil. The first major hazard would be the presence of all the huge and heavy machinery and vehicles used. The damage to the trees and the ground that these heavy vehicles will cause is tremendous. They would also need to cut numerous of beautiful and healthy trees down to make room for the equipment needed to drill oil. All of the wildlife that lives in this area would be displaced if not killed in this process. The other hazard that would

bring into the forest is the pollution levels from the equipment used to set up and run a drilling facility. The next step in the risk assessment that relates to this is called the Dose-Response assessment. If the drillings were approved then the pollution from all the vehicles and machines used would dump so many toxins into the soil and air. The vehicles and machines needed would produce a large amount of emissions because of their massive size. This would cause so much damage to the wildlife and vegetation surrounding the area. The third step to the risk assessment is a result from the previous step, and it is called the exposure assessment. The process of starting an oil drilling plant will take many years to clear the land. It will also take them many more years to complete the job of drilling all the oil out of the well. All of this time adds up and the whole time all this is taking place, the air and ground is suffering pollutants. The promise of the restoration of the forest after they complete the job will no longer be a possibility due to the years of exposure to harmful toxins in the areas. The final step in the risk management is Risk Characterization. This step examines all the other steps and evaluates weather it hold a great risk or not. By looking at all the other steps and the damage that would be done in this process, it is easy to see that it would create damaging effects on the Bridger Teton National Forest. It will affect the wildlife and the vegetation and possibly even the tourist that visit. It will also take many years to redo all the damage that may not even be possible to restore. I hope that you will allow your readers a chance to see both sides of this issue so that they can step back and think about the hazards involved in drilling and why it is important that we preserve our natural resources.

References Berg, L. R., Hager, M. C., & Hassenzahl, D. M. (2011). Visualizing environmental science (3rd ed.). Hoboken,, NJ: John Wiley & Sons in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. United States Department of Agriculture. (2013, February). Bridger-Teton National Forest: Recreation. Retrieved from http://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/btnf/recreation