Conservation and Preservation

Preservation or to preserve something means to keep something in its natural state. It is not to be touched or messed with by any outside forces. The Bridger Teton forest right now has been persevered; it is an untouched wilderness with wildlife and a delicate echo system.

Conservation is to protect something and try to keep it as natural as possible, but make some kind of changes. The energy companies want to try and conserve the natural beauty of the Bridger Teton forest, but they also want to be able to make changes to that beauty by adding roads and drilling oil wells.

The Bridger Teton forest is one of a very few natural, preserved areas left in our country, and is home to herds of animals. It has a delicate echo system and should be left alone. There is no such thing as an environmentally safe way to harvest oil and energy form any land or body of water. To get to the drill site tree will have to be cut down and roads built. Then you have the extra air pollution from the trucks and equipment running in and out of the forest. The wildlife there is not use to that kind of environment and could start to die off.

There is also the displacement of animals that will lose homes if trees are being cut and holes being drilled into the land that they are use to roaming free on. These animals could fall into a hole get hurt, or hit by a truck or other piece of equipment. This kind of treatment is not fair to them; they deserve to have a peaceful home just as we do.

I understand we need energy but we have others ways of getting it, such as building more affordable solar powered cars and homes. The sun is a source of clean renewable energy. There are also wind turbines that can harness the power of the wind to supply energy to our homes. There are also alternative fuel options for our transportation. Instead of destroying one of the few untouched lands left we should be using our technology to make the alternative energy sources affordable and available to everyone.