The Sustainable Mountain Development Club (SMD) at Utah Valley University (UVU) writes today to commend our Utah Senator, Mitt Romney, and his 91 colleagues in the Senate who supported and passed S.47, Natural Resource Management Act (2/12/19). This legislation greatly expanding tracts of land to be protected by the federal government, preventing destructive drilling around several national parks, and allocating funds to be used in further preservation efforts.

We strongly believe that a crucial aspect of sustainable development across the nation, and especially in those mountainous areas, includes the preservation of pristine wilderness. The overwhelming bipartisan support for this act has shown integrity in their office and responsibility to promote the common good among the people they represent. We truly hope that the House of Representatives will pass, and President Trump will sign S.47 with equal vigor and excitement for our nation’s wilderness.

Historians have called the national parks, and the principle of public lands as a whole, “America’s best idea” and “democracy at it’s very best”. The nation’s public lands provide the American experience in its purest form; that the nation should set aside the greatest wonders of our land for the enjoyment and adventure of the people, and that they be protected by America’s first great achievement, the republic itself.

While large-scale legislative actions like S.47 Natural Resource Management Act are crucial to the preservation of our nation’s pristine wilderness that responsibility ultimately falls upon all Americans. We encourage everyone to take an active part in preservation efforts across the nation, no matter the size, for these lands are ours.

Kyler Pigott, President SMD club at Utah Valley University