Letters

Environmentalist or conservationist, do you know the difference? And which are you?

I retired after 38 years as a senior sergeant in the New York State Park Police. For over a decade, I was president and legislative chairman of the Police Benevolent Association of New York State. The PBANYS represented three state police agencies charged with environmental protection and enforcement of state environmental laws. The three agencies I represented were the New York State Environmental Conservation Police, Forest Rangers and New York State Park Police.

In addition, I have provided legislative support while working closely with many of the state’s environmental nonprofits in pursuit of legislation to protect and preserve environmental assets.

However, I am a conservationist and strongly believe that, whether you know it or not, you are too.

At first glance, the objective of both conservationism and environmentalism is similar: to conserve our planet. Yet how each of these philosophies approaches such conservation of our world is markedly different, because they have two different presuppositions.

Conservationists tend to view humans as beneficial, whereas environmentalists tend to view humans as a plague.

Modern-day conservationism was founded by President Theodore Roosevelt and his close ally, Gifford Pinchot. President Roosevelt and Pinchot established a long-term plan devised by national experts to maximize environmental protections and long-term economic benefits of natural resources.

John Muir founded modern-day environmentalism as we know it. Muir believed that nature was sacred and humans were intruders who should look but not develop. Muir was also the founder of the Sierra Club, which still holds Muir’s beliefs.

Despite the intentions of some who would want you to believe that the differences are as simple as one political party’s philosophy, they are not.

In the 1930s, Muir and the followers of his beliefs vehemently opposed timber cutting on most public lands. They vehemently denounced the dams that Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt supported for water supplies, electricity and flood control. One such project was the Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite National Park.

I am a conservationist. I believe in the environmental sciences and the management of our natural resources. As a legislator, I will not legislate out of environmental ignorance or fanaticism, but instead I will carefully weigh the pros and cons. Environmental protection that pits one environmental issue at the expense of another is wrong and a threat to us all.

Only through careful, nonpartisan, unbiased study with deep analysis can we manage our environment. Environmental planning should never be a choice of protecting one facet of the environment at the expense of another.

On November 7, please vote for Manny Vilar for the Suffolk County Legislature.

Manny Vilar

Springs