Illsutration by Josh Hagler

Friday September 28, 2001

"From Connecticut to California, sprawl is increasing air and water pollution, devouring wetlands and forests. If we don't do something now, the environmental consequences are going to be devastating."

This inane claim comes from the Web site of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization which, in the preceding quote, claims that urban sprawl is destroying our nation's environmental landscape.

Simple statistical evidence, however, proves this claim to be totally untrue.

According to the National Resources Inventory (NRI), a government study performed in 1997 and revised in December, the grand total of developed land in America comes to a whopping 5.2 percent - and no, this total doesn't include Alaska. "Developed land" is any land that has been altered by man, such as roads, homes, industries, schools, shopping malls, whatever.

The federal government owns nearly half (47.2 percent) of Arizona's land. In other words, almost half of the land in this state is off limits to any kind of private development. Now, take into account only 3.5 percent of non-federal land in Arizona is developed in any way, shape or form, and one may start to realize the absurdity of environmentalists' claims that urban sprawl is destroying our local environment.

But let's go one step further. Factor in federally owned land in Arizona, and we come to a total of 1.85 percent. In other words, less than 2 percent, or less than one in 50 acres, of all of Arizona's land is developed.

Beyond that, the population boom that our great state has endured in the past two decades hardly scratched the surface of Arizona's beautiful 80 million-acre landscape. Since 1982, Arizona has experienced an increase in non-federal land development of only 0.9 percent, or less than 0.5 percent of its total acreage, including federal land.

Further land development in Arizona is a non-issue, has always been a non-issue and will continue to be a non-issue for the foreseeable future. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Looking at the national picture, 21.2 percent of America's land is federally owned - yes, our government owns four times the land that is presently developed.

Exactly 93 percent of all federal land is located in the 13 westernmost states in America (Nevada tops the list at 83 percent). The government owns more than half the land in these states.

But what, then, about the New England states? Surely they must be upward of 80 to 90 percent developed. Nope.

Although much of the land in New England has been populated with booming cities and towns the last 400 years, most of it remains untouched. As far as non-federal land is concerned, according to the NRI study, 5.8 percent of Vermont, 11.9 percent of New Hampshire, 18.6 percent of Delaware, and 30.4 percent of Massachusetts is developed. And remember, these percentages fall once federal land is thrown into the equation.

Even New Jersey, the most industrialized, God-forsaken (according to environmentalists) state in the country, is only one-third developed. Hey, it just might still be the "Garden State" after all.

To be honest, one doesn't need me pointing out all these facts and figures to prove my point. Think about it: how many of you have had a window seat while flying on an airplane in the past? Look out the window, and what do you see? Fields, pastures, forests· in other words, a whole bunch of undeveloped land. The argument that America's gorgeous landscape is still large and plentiful is hardly rocket science.

It's just common sense.

So the question remains: why would so many environmentalist organizations be against further development and urban sprawl in light of these facts? It's simple: they hate those who have the means to own a big house. They resent the many Americans that can afford to live in luxury and own nice things. They loathe capitalism, the root of their misery.

The fact is that today in America, environmentalists are liberals and vice versa. Environmentalists dislike those who can afford to build their own four-bedroom, two-story home, just as many liberals despise the fact that our capitalist society has made it all possible. They are one in the same, fighting for a common cause, and it is very sad.

Those who truly believe in preserving and protecting the environment have been trapped by organizations such as the Sierra Club that uses those who think this way for political gain. It's wrong, and applying a little statistical evidence and common sense to the problem will help put an end to it.