The persistent myth that conservation and environmental protection are liberal causes continues to be perpetuated by the media, liberals and many self-professed “conservatives.” The truth is that Conservation and Environmental Stewardship are traditional conservative core values.

I met Arnie Myrdal, my great grandfather, for the first time when I was eight years old. Arnie was one of the first Whatcom County settlers to establish a homestead at Point Roberts Washington during the late 1800’s. For years, he served as the manager of the largest seafood packing company on the West coast, the Alaska Packers Cannery at Point Roberts. At one point in time, he had over 200 Chinese nationals working for him. He enjoyed working with other immigrants and I can remember fondly the stories he told me about some of his employees.

My great grandfather, like my grandfather and father, was a dedicated conservative Republican. He taught me that conservation of the environment was an integral part of the practice of conservatism. He taught me, by example, that we must live life according to our values. He was a member of the Sierra Club, National Geographic Society and a founding member of the Washington State Audubon Society.

My father, a retired Air Force pilot and another conservative, called me one afternoon back in the early 1980's and invited me to go flying. We spent the entire day flying over the forests of Western Washington, so he could show me first hand the ecological devastation that was taking place in our forests from over zealous logging practices.

While I was growing up, my mother, who had been trained as a nurse at Stanford University taught me to treat injured wild animals so that they could return to the wild.

Republicans have much to be proud of considering their early conservation history. The first Congressional bill to preserve Yosemite was passed by Republican President Abraham Lincoln who signed the Yosemite Grant on June 30, 1864. The grant deeded Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias to the state of California.

In 1890, Congress set aside more than 1,500 square miles of forest lands around Yosemite Valley, soon to be known as Yosemite National Park. Two years later, the Sierra Club was founded. John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt lobbied the state of California to cede Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to Yosemite National Park.

But that was only the beginning. Republican President Richard Nixon promoted and signed into law the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, cornerstone legislation for protecting the environment. Nixon also founded the Environmental Protection Agency.

Today, Republicans across the nation are working diligently to protect the environment. Like Washington State, Mississippi is blessed with irreplaceable natural resources. The Mississippi Republican Party has this statement posted on their website: “Our environmental quality and the quality of our natural resources are valuable assets for promoting tourism, attracting new industries, and maintaining the quality of life treasured by our citizens. Clean air and clean water is a legacy that we must protect for our children. We acknowledge that it is the responsibility of every citizen, both corporate and individual to safeguard and improve these resources. We also believe that we should recognize the great economic opportunity that exists because of our natural abundance. Eco-tourism, outdoor outfitting, hunting and fishing opportunities beckon us to do more to adequately craft our business skills to take advantage of them. We can do well, and do well by maintaining a strong commitment to a green and healthy economy while marketing that very resource for the economic benefit of our people.”

In 1996, the U.S. Republican Policy Committee issued a statement of support for the 1996 Republican Platform that included in part, the following principles.

•Assure that the air and water are clean and safe for our children and future generations.
•Assure that everyone ha access to public outdoor recreation areas; and that historic and environmentally sensitive wilderness and wetland areas will be protected without compromising our commitment to the rights of property owners.
•Base all governmental environmental decisions on the best peer reviewed scientific evidence, while encouraging advancements in research.

The Committee also asked President Clinton to reform the flawed Superfund cleanup program. The chair of the committee stated that “there has been too much litigation and not enough clean up. Of the $30 billion already spent on Superfund, more than half has gone for litigation and administration.” Since the passage of the Superfund law, only 14% of the 1,300 identified clean up sites on the National Priorities list have been completely cleaned up.

On January 2nd, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement on California filing suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to overturn its decision denying a waiver to enforce state regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars:

"It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and nineteen other states from adopting these standards. They are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming. That's why, at the very first legal opportunity, we're suing to reverse the U.S. EPA’s wrong decision. California has always been a leader in protecting the environment and we will do everything in our power to continue that proud tradition."

The misperception that conservationism is not conservative stems from the fact that some members of the GOP establishment have lost sight of these values (largely due to the influence of corporate lobbies and political leaders beholden to them for campaign support) and from the willingness of populist Democrats to embrace environmental protection. The result has been a polarizing battle that is not at all about the advance of conservative principles, but rather the advance of special interest political agendas.

Still not completely convinced? In 1970, Barry Goldwater stated in a rare interview, “While I’m a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution free environment.”

U.S. Senator John McCain, Republican candidate for President said, “Our nation’s continued prosperity hinges on our ability to solve environmental problems and sustain the natural resources on which we all depend.”

I will close with a statement by former President Ronald Reagan: “What is a conservative after all, but one who conserves, one who is committed to protecting and holding close the things by which we live…and we want to protect and conserve the land on which we live – our countryside, our rivers and mountains, our plains and meadows and forests. This is our patrimony. This is what we leave to our children. And our great moral responsibility is to leave it to them as we found it or better than we found it.”

No doubt about it - my great grandfather would have had tremendous respect for President Ronald Reagan.