Protect the Wilderness From the White House

John Balzar hit home again, this time in “Ah, Sweet Nature ... but Only If You Can Afford a Piece of It” (Commentary, Aug 18). The Bush administration’s arrogant, environment-trashing policy keeps me sputtering. When it gets through, what will be left of our public lands and water? Where will ordinary Americans--the majority of whom care about the environment--find natural places of solitude and renewal?

At least I see a glimmer of light from the efforts of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte), working so that every California urban dweller has only an hour’s drive to wilderness opportunities. Her bill (HR 4947) is the Southern California counterpart to Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) bill (SB 2535), which stands like a beacon amid the Bush administration’s environmental double talk. Boxer’s measure would add 2.5 million acres to California’s federally protected wilderness system, plus 22 streams with wild and scenic river protection. I hope other representatives have the courage to co-sponsor these bills, protecting California’s wild heritage for us commoners and those of future non-elite generations.

Ann Olander

Alta Loma

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Given the cavalier attitude displayed by our appointed president regarding ownership of property, let Bush participate in the reality show that most of us do. What if nothing in life was handed to him on a platter, including the presidency? Where would he be now? At least he wouldn’t be in the position to give away our public lands to oil interests for their exploitation. We wouldn’t have to experience his disdainful attitude toward the landless poor, his mindless malapropisms and his boorish dismissal of scholastic achievement.

Jim Hoover

Huntington Beach