Readers Guide Article Review Example

This paper gives a reader’s guide for the course work. It gives an analysis of the political influences on the conservation of national parks and building of dams. For a very long time, the United Stats of America (USA) has faced a lot of problems as far as its environmental conservation is concerned.
First and foremost, it is important to agree with the presenter for arguing that the National Parks and the designated wildernesses are some of the most important preservationist class of land in the country. Whereas some National Parks are located within the designated wildernesses, some designated wildernesses are also located within the National Parks. Their importance is beneficial to the American community in man y ways. For instance, as the paper finds out, they make an enormous contribution on the country’s political economy. Meaning, it provides job opportunities and facilitates the development of transport network in different corners of the nation. This is good for the economic development of the nation.
Besides, they offer beautiful sceneries which attract tourists to come and tour the country. This implies that it can help in harmonizing the relationship between the country and the international community. I think tourism sector can only thrive if a country has a positive reputation. Therefore, the conservation of National Parks and wilderness plays a fundamental role in sustaining these areas so as to continue sustaining the economy of the country. Moreover, the conservation of these sites can be very instrumental in safeguarding the security of the people. Many people have fallen victims of attack by astray wild animals. Therefore, a proper conservation of these sceneries will be an ultimate solution to human-wildlife conflict.
This necessitates intervention by the political community. Since politics is the major determiner of country’s decisions, it is incumbent upon the political leaders to come up and take necessary measures to preserve the National Parks and wildernesses. It is true that they are always the major beneficiaries. Hence, as it is stated in this reading, they should allocate resources for the construction of roads, railway lines, museums, and administrative buildings. However, such initiatives have faced a lot of challenge from the anti-reformists who are not concerned about the welfare of the country. Instead, they put their interest primary to the nation’s. Such has been evidenced during the formulation of reform geared legislations such as the Wilderness Act and Leopold Report of 1964. They were good legislations which would positively transform this sector through involving all the concerned stakeholders including the local populations.
As already highlighted, this guide also focuses on the political factors influencing the building of dams and their consequences to the environment. This reading reports that USA has a total of 5,500 large and 100,000 small dams spread across the country. Some of the most notable dams include Glen Canyon Dam situated along River Colorado. Just like others, it is a very resourceful facility which benefits the country in different ways. A part from being a major source of electricity, it helps in environmental conservation, controlling the flow of water, reducing sedimentation and promotion of fishing. These are benefits which may imply that they had a great role to play in the political economy of the country.
The reading reports that dam building was initially a very popular activity. This is because dams were view as very important structures which had lots of benefits to the American citizens. However, this no longer happens because the construction of large dams was stopped many years ago. The argument was that they turned out to environmental hazards which did not have many benefits to the country. Moreover, it as found out to be a very expensive venture which did not bring much economic rewards to the nation. Hence, it was abolished by the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s administrations. This explains why such projects have become so unpopular in USA as compared to other countries such as Canada, China and India.
I would like to point out that the construction of dams has become unpopular with Americans because of the political involvement. A lot of questions were asked why its construction had to continue despite the fact that it was environmental unfriendly and expensive affair. However, it was found out that the whole thing was politicized because political players were using it as an avenue of reaping huge profits. Although such projects were meant to benefit the ordinary citizens, it turned out that the only people who benefited were political leaders. Whenever there was any public out cry concerning a pending project, the locals would be politically played by the congress by giving them inadequate compensations.
The above discussion indicates that politics has played a major part in the construction of dams in USA. It explains why dam construction had to continue even after realizing that it was not beneficial to the people. It was supported by the anti-reformist legislators and political parties who used to benefit from them at the expense of the Americans.