Conservation groups have helped to protect a lot of good things in the past. However, conservation groups now remind me of labor unions, in that once they
served a very useful purpose, yet today they may cause more hardship than good. Recently a conservation group stopped a windmill farm in West Virginia
from operating and expansion. Our country needs clean energy. Fortunately a compromise was worked out which allows the wind farm to continue operation
with limits on when and how they operate. I think the compromise was a good thing but if the conservation group had its way, the wind farm would have
ceased to operate entirely.
Drilling for oil and gas has been stopped all over the country and offshore by conservation groups. Nuclear reactor construction has been stopped by
conservation groups. Refinery construction has been stopped by conservation groups. All kinds of recreation has been stopped by conservation groups in our huge Western state area.
Today I read that a conservation group is attempting to stop the government from building a new four lane bypass for Highway 64 near the Ocooee (sp?)
River due to claims of habitat destruction, pollution from cars, etc. Currently Highway 64 is a two lane curvy road prone to landslides and follows the river.
Many big trucks are using that old highway, because currently I-40 is blocked near the NC/TN border by a huge landslide, Highway 441 is also blocked by a landslide. The new 4 lane would be farther from the river and carry more traffic safely. Obviously a new highway is needed to offer an alternate route, yet conservation groups are once again attempting to block a new road.
When does this end? Are these groups really doing any good or are they simply causing our country to stagnate? I'm sure they have good intentions when
they challenge these projects, but are these conservation challenges doing more harm than good? This same question applies to gating caves and stopping
all access to caves. Gating caves has caused bats to congregate into close quarters by the millions. Any time large groups of animals congregate in such
large groups and close quarters, they are courting disaster by making it easier for any kind of disease to very quickly wipe them out in mass. That is exactly
what is happening right now with the emergence of WNS. Restricting access not only halts the gathering of knowledge about the bats but also affects the
economy in the areas that caves are located.
Are conservation groups today simply trying to preserve their own existence when their existence has already served it's purpose? Are they doing more bad
than good? Think about it.