An integral part of the standard American ideal of a quality life is tied to the tradition of quick access to open spaces.
After the massive population growth of the last 50 years, the homes of most Americans now are in large urban areas. Each year, because of continued population growth, open spaces get farther and farther out of reach. It takes longer and longer for the average American to get to open spaces for hiking, fishing, birding, swimming, hunting, bicycling, camping, picnicking, boating and even gazing at the night sky.
Increasingly Americans find the “open spaces” so congested they fail to receive the psychological and spiritual refreshment they had sought.
Americans are FOR a continued link with the natural world for all citizens, not just for the wealthy who can buy their own retreats. But Congress forces endless urban sprawl that traps more and more Americans in urban congestion without daily – or even weekly – access to open spaces.
