Legislating Arkansas’ natural beauty |
I have spent thousands of hours hunting in our woods and fishing in our lakes and streams. The result is an appreciation of Arkansas' natural beauty, which gives me a continuing desire to do what I can to protect and enhance our state's environment.
My early years had a lot to do with appreciation of the natural beauty of our state. As a preteen and teen, I lived on a 20-acre farm about 100 yards from Goodwin Creek and the area's heavily forested creek bottom. There were very few days that passed that I didn't head there to fish, hunt, trap, and swim. I can still remember having to run the snakes out before I hit the water.
As an adult, while serving as a member of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission and president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, I actively opposed those who would degrade any part of it. Fighting a couple of battles to keep the Buffalo River running clean and organizing the picketing of Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro to keep it from being commercially mined are among ongoing efforts to keep our state from being environmentally degraded. My service on PC&E was a continuing battle with commercial interests that considered the number of jobs a proposal would create as the defining reason for approving measures that many times would degrade natural settings.
Still, we have some glaring eyesores that detract from our inherent beauty. Here are some suggestions that, if considered by our Legislature, could be called "The Big Beautiful Environmental Bill."
First and most obvious is roadside litter, a huge visual problem that seems to grow daily. Since tobacco and alcoholic beverage products are major concerns, the bill would place a one-cent sales tax on them and use the funds to remove the litter. We could use incarcerated individuals as part of our highway cleanup crews.
The bill should eliminate use of all non-returnable plastic bags and non-returnable beverage bottles.
Require that every parking lot in an incorporated city or town have 25 percent of each lot planted with trees or other landscaping.
Create a fund from tax collections that would pay for up to 200 yards of new sidewalks or trails for a town or city each year.
Put a $5-per-tail bounty on feral hogs, a moratorium on killing bears, and restock wolves, mountain lions, and other predators. Maybe our quail will then have a chance to make a comeback.
Form a committee to legislate control of climate change, which is becoming worse each year. Its first agenda item would be to phase out existing coal-fired electrical generating plants.
Require new subdivisions to have underground utilities, as well as all statewide electrical renovations.
Require the state Board of Education to mandate teaching of climate control in classrooms for at least 30 minutes a day.
Allow a deduction of $100 per tax return for the planting of at least five hardwood trees.
Have the Legislature increase the money for facilities improvement to existing state parks, and create a committee charged with increasing their number.
Email Richard Mason at richard@gibraltarenergy.com.