Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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I recently took a 16-day raft trip on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. The expedition was a wild adventure through massive rapids surrounded by towering canyon walls. But the most blissful part of the trip was simply being offline and relatively isolated for more than two weeks. Neither the mass media nor the mass of humanity trying to escape cities penetrated the depths of the canyon.
That isolation didn’t happen by accident. Unlike many other national parks, Grand Canyon rigorously controls the number of people who float and camp down the river.
These limits protect the environment, as well as the quality of the visitor experience, from the hordes of people who’ve flooded into other parks over the past two years. Huge crowds at Arches and Zion National Parks have made headlines due to traffic jams, wait lines, and the pollution, trash and vandalism caused by the sheer numbers of people. The crowding has been so bad that in a July congressional hearing, officials recommended a strict reservation system for visitors.
Such limits will only get stricter in the years to come, if our population continues growing rapidly. The sad truth is that too many nature lovers isn’t good for nature.
The U.S. population continues to soar with each passing year. In 1993, there were 260 million Americans; now there are 330 million, a gain of 27% and 70 million people. This massive rise has caused enormous environmental impacts, including an increase in climate-changing emissions, garbage, air and water pollution, traffic and crowding.
Additionally, the increase in the number of people has caused serious encroachment into the non-human world around us. Wildlife habitat, wetlands, and even farms and open spaces are under relentless attack by advancing subdivisions, shopping malls and highways. Research by the Center for American Progress states that, “Every 30 seconds, a football field worth of America’s natural areas disappears to roads, houses, pipelines and other development.”
It doesn’t have to be that way.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton created his Presidential Council on Sustainable Development, composed of economic, government, private sector and environmental leaders. The members were diverse and exemplary, and they in turn appointed additional leaders to 10 task forces, which met over a six-year period and created a list of “bold, new approaches to achieve economic, environmental and equity goals” for America.
After years of deliberation and research — funded by some of the nation’s biggest and most respected philanthropies such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — the council issued its recommendation: “Move toward stabilizing the U.S. population.”
Council members warned that the “U.S. population is likely to reach 350 million by the year 2030; a level that would place even greater strain on our ability to increase prosperity, clean up pollution, alleviate congestion, manage sprawl, and reduce the overall consumption of resources.”
Those predictions sadly proved accurate. Time is running out, but we can make sure the next three decades don’t mirror the past 30 years of population growth and environmental destruction. President Joe Biden has an opportunity to follow in Clinton’s footsteps and finally implement the council’s recommendations.
Our most pristine and breathtaking wild places, like the Colorado River winding through the Grand Canyon, are worth protecting. But we won’t be able to save them if our country keeps growing by leaps and bounds.
Gary Wockner is an environmental activist in Colorado focusing on river protection, climate change and population stabilization.
