RE: [greenyes] Administration's Science Position

["William Ramcheck" <bramcheck@no.address>]

In light of that "faith-based parks" agenda, a national movement and
court action should be started to offer Hopi and other native
explanations of the Grand Canyon origin, much less the rest of American
and human history.  Park visitors might find it of interest to know they
are in the "fourth world," and that the Hopi made their way to it by
using Bakavi reeds (at least from what I read several years ago on it).


Bill Tarman-Ramcheck
Public Works Programs Analyst
City of Wauwatosa Public Works

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Anderson [mailto:anderson@no.address] 
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 4:54 PM
To: GreenYes
Subject: [greenyes] Administration's Science Position


Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Press Release

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337

PARK SERVICE STICKS WITH BIBLICAL EXPLANATION FOR GRAND CANYON
Promised Legal Review on Creationist Book Is Shelved

Washington, DC - The Bush Administration has decided that it will stand
by 
its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's 
flood rather than by geologic forces, according to internal documents 
released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
(PEER).

Despite telling members of Congress and the public that the legality and

appropriateness of the National Park Service offering a creationist book
for 
sale at Grand Canyon museums and bookstores was "under review at the 
national level by several offices," no such review took place, according
to 
materials obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act.
Instead, 
the real agency position was expressed by NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy
as 
quoted in the Baptist Press News:

  "Now that the book has become quite popular, we don't want to remove
it."

In August of 2003, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Joe Alston 
attempted to block the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View, by Tom
Vail, 
a book explaining how the park's central feature developed on a biblical

rather than an evolutionary time scale. NPS Headquarters, however, 
intervened and overruled Alston. To quiet the resulting furor, NPS Chief
of 
Communications David Barna told reporters that there would be a
high-level 
policy review, distributing talking points stating: "We hope to have a
final 
decision in February [2004]." In fact, the promised review never
occurred -

  a.. In late February, Barna crafted a draft letter to concerned
members of 
Congress stating: "We hope to have a final decision on the book in March

2004." That draft was rewritten in June and finally sent out to 
Congressional representatives with no completion date for the review at
all;
  b.. NPS Headquarters did not respond to a January 25th memo from its
own 
top geologists charging that sale of the book violated agency policies
and 
undercut its scientific education programs;
  c.. The Park Service ignored a letter of protest signed by the
presidents 
of seven scientific societies on December 16, 2003.
"Promoting creationism in our national parks is just as wrong as
promoting 
it in our public schools," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, "If
the 
Bush Administration is using public resources for pandering to Christian

fundamentalists, it should at least have the decency to tell the truth
about 
it."

The creationist book is not the only religious controversy at Grand
Canyon 
National Park. One week prior to the approved sale of Grand Canyon: A 
Different View, NPS Deputy Director Donald Murphy ordered that bronze 
plaques bearing Psalm verses be returned and reinstalled at canyon 
overlooks. Superintendent Alston had removed the bronze plaques on legal

advice from Interior Department solicitors. Murphy also wrote a letter
of 
apology to the plaques' sponsors, the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary.
PEER 
has collected other instances of what it calls the Bush Administration's

"Faith-Based Parks" agenda.

_________________________
Peter Anderson, President
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705-4964
Ph: (608) 231-1100
Fax: (608) 233-0011
Cell: (608) 698-1314
eMail: anderson@no.address
web: www.recycleworlds.net

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