    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [August 26, 1995]
    [Pages 1265-1266]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    August 26, 1995

        Good morning. There's an old Native American saying that goes: In
    all our deliberations we must take into account the well-being of the
    seventh generation to follow. The wisdom of those words has come alive
    to me during my family's Wyoming vacation.
        During the past week and a half, Chelsea, Hillary, and I have been
    vacationing in two of our Nation's most spectacular national treasures,
    Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. We've been hiking, horseback
    riding, rafting on the Snake River. We've seen Old Faithful, the canyon
    falls, and the young wolves that are being reintroduced into
    Yellowstone. We've seen buffalo, moose, elk, eagles, osprey, red hawks.
    No bears yet, but we're still looking. We've seen breathtaking
    mountains, lakes, streams, and meadows. And all of this belongs to you,
    the American people, for all time to come.
        I've also seen lots of Americans, young, old, and in-between, from
    all over our country in these parks. Mostly I've seen families, hard-
    working families who can afford these wonders of the world because these
    parks belong to them. So I'm more grateful than ever that those who came
    before us saw fit to preserve this land for the enjoyment of future
    generations of Americans. That was the intent of Congress when it
    established the National Park Service 79 years ago today. I can think of
    few things that mean more to the national life of our country than our
    national parks.
        Last year, more than 270 million visitors made their way to places
    like Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Grand Canyon National Parks, and to
    urban treasures like Golden Gate in California, Cuyahoga in Ohio, and
    Gateway in New York. They came to big parks and to smaller ones, like
    the one in my hometown, Hot Springs National Park.
        Our 369 national parks aren't simply aesthetically pleasing; they're
    also important to the economies of their communities. For example, in
    1994, visitors to Yellowstone, the world's first national park, pumped
    more than $643 million into the local economy, creating more than 12,000
    jobs. Visitors to Big Bend National Park, along the Texas-Mexican
    border, spent more than $77 million while creating 1,544 local jobs.
        But while the parks have been good for local economies, many of them
    have fallen into disrepair. So if we want them to be there for our
    children in the 21st century we've got to turn this around. But there's
    a right way and

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    a wrong way to do it. The wrong way is to say that this is an investment
    no longer worth making, to close the parks and sell them off to the
    highest bidder. Some people want to do that, but it wouldn't be in faith
    with the kind of commonsense values that have made our country great and
    the kind of common ground we've had over our national parks throughout
    the 20th century.
        That's why I strongly oppose the budget cuts that were proposed
    earlier this year by the congressional majority. They could have forced
    the closing of more than 200 national parks and recreation areas. The
    right way to help our parks is through the kind of sensible reforms our
    administration has proposed.
        First, we have to put our parks on sound financial footing by
    keeping park fees that the citizens pay in the parks. Most visitors to
    our national parks believe their fees are used for park improvements,
    but they aren't. That will change under our reforms. Many visitors tell
    us they want their money to stay in the parks and they'd even pay a
    little more if they knew that was the case. Well, that's what we propose
    to do, keep the fees in the parks.
        The second thing we want to do is to make it easier for our parks to
    form partnerships with people in the private sector who want to invest
    money to preserve our natural heritage, not to destroy it.
        And thirdly, we want to change the out-of-date contracting policies
    that keep the concession fees paid by businesses operating in the parks
    unreasonably low. We've got to change that because those who make a
    profit from the private businesses in our parks should pay a fair amount
    for the privilege, so that they can make a profit and help us to
    maintain our parks.
        I'm also concerned about activities on land that belongs to the
    American people which are being used for profit in ways that could
    damage our national parks. For example, just 2\1/2\ miles from
    Yellowstone Park there's a proposal to build a big gold mine. Before
    that mine can be approved, it must meet the highest standards in an
    environmental impact statement. And yesterday I declared a 2-year
    moratorium on any new mining claims in the area near the northeast
    corner of Yellowstone Park.
        Unfortunately, we're still burdened with an 1872 mining law which
    allows these claims to be staked and mined while giving virtually
    nothing back to the American people who make it possible. We have to do
    everything we can to protect parks like Yellowstone. They're more
    priceless than gold.
        Finally, if we want to maintain our national heritage for our
    children and our grandchildren, we have to do more than preserve our
    national parks; we've got to preserve our environment. Right now we face
    a lot of pressure to pollute the environment and to go back on our
    commitment to keeping it safe and clean and healthy. The House recently
    voted to gut environmental and public health protections in the name of
    regulatory reform. Some in the Senate tried to do the same. They were
    willing to put at risk the safety of our air, our food, our drinking
    water, the water we fish and swim in, for short-term financial gains for
    a few.
        The budget bill the House passed would cut environmental enforcement
    by 50 percent, virtually bringing to a halt Federal enforcement of the
    Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and it would stop toxic waste clean-
    ups. This would be a terrible mistake, and I'm determined to fight it
    with vetoes, if necessary.
        For a long time now, the American people have stood together on
    common ground to preserve our environment. At the beginning of this
    century, Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, began a fervent call for
    conservation. In 1905, he said, ``There can be nothing in the world more
    beautiful than a Yosemite, the groves of giant sequoias and redwoods,
    the canyon of the Colorado, the canyon of Yellowstone, its three Tetons.
    And our people should see to it that they are preserved for their
    children and their children's children forever.''
        Well, I second that emotion. And after spending the last week in
    Wyoming, I have an even deeper commitment to fulfilling it. So let's end
    this century by meeting the challenge Teddy Roosevelt set for us at the
    beginning. We've made a lot of progress in the protection of our
    environment and our national heritage. But the future can be even
    brighter. Do we need reforms? Yes. Should we reverse course? Not on your
    life. It's up to us.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 9:40 p.m. on August 25 at the
    Rockefeller residence in Jackson Hole, WY, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m.
    on August 26.