Drakes Bay Oyster Company: Marine Reserve Plan Expresses Clearly the Importance of Protecting Intact Marine Ecosystems

"We run the risk of fundamentally breaking entire ecosystems."

John Kerry, Oceans Conference

 

Drakes Estero, part of the

Philip Burton Wilderness Area

 

Today the administration left no doubt about the importance placed on protecting some areas of marine ecosystems from commercial development. Through an Executive Order, President Obama announced his intention to create the world's largest marine protected area in the south-central Pacific Ocean. In an article printed in the New York Times, the president was quoted as saying:

"And like Presidents Clinton and Bush before me, I'm going to use my authority as president to protect some of our most precious  marine landscapes, just like we do for mountains and rivers and forests." President Obama

Doc Hastings complains about the "Imperial President" - which one?
Apparently forgetting about a similar Executive Order by President Bush creating a marine national monument near Hawaii, Republican Doc Hastings complained in a statement about how an "Imperial President" was preventing "energy production" through an "overreaching Executive action."

Drakes Bay Oyster Company's BFF leaving Congress
Doc Hastings (R-WA) has also complained about cessation of commercial activities in Drakes Estero which are preventing the completion of the Philip Burton Wilderness Area which Congress created, which he is a member of. Doc Hastings has announced he will not seek re-election this year, something future generations will come to appreciate as the long term benefits of intact ecosystems for all are seen to outweigh the short term economic benefits of the few.