Bob Hamblen lives in Saco.

While polling consistently shows that national parks and monuments, national forests and wildlife refuges are broadly supported by majorities in both primary political parties in the U.S., curiously, the Republican majorities in both the U.S. Senate and House continue to pick away at what many regard as crown jewels in our country’s national treasures.

Case in point: the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota is the most visited wilderness area in the U.S. Home to 1,100 lakes, miles of hiking trails and 2,000 designated campsites, thousands of visitors arrive annually for camping, fishing, paddling, dog sledding, hunting and hiking.

And yet, following the House’s lead, the Senate recently approved use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn critical protections for the Boundary Waters, opening the door for a Chilean-owned company to pursue leases in order to develop a copper and nickel mine at the headwaters of — repeat after me — the most visited wilderness area in the U.S.

The April 16 vote came over objections voiced by Democrats and two Republicans: Sens. Collins of Maine and Tillis of North Carolina. Tillis, of course, has announced his intention to step aside at this end of his current term; he can do the right thing without fear of repercussions. Locked in a tight race to retain her seat, we can hope that Sen. Collins recognizes the harm being done by her Republican cohorts and continues to battle on behalf of lands we all value.

In October, the Senate voted to overturn management plans on public lands in Montana, North Dakota and Alaska, the first time in history that Congress has overturned land management plans, putting the future of 166 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands in question.

Next up: Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GS-E), a 1.9-million-acre geological marvel that includes dense concentrations of Indigenous ancestral sites, rock imagery and dwellings, a unique desert ecosystem and evidence of dozens of newly discovered dinosaur species in what has come to be known as the “science monument.”

What are we going to say to our grandchildren when they ask, can we go look at the stars tonight?

GS-E is managed according to a plan developed with input from state, local and tribal leaders as well as ranchers, recreationists and conservation groups. The plan emphasizes protecting the ecological integrity, cultural heritage and minimal development that has allowed it to be designated as an International Dark Sky Park.

Should the wizards of Washington vote to overturn the plan, it would leave wildlife, cultural resources and local economies vulnerable to politics — and, following the money, lead to fossil fuel (coal) and mineral extraction operations, removal of native and old-growth forests and the possible reduction or elimination of the national monument — rather than a stable, science-based approach to perpetuating and protecting an ecosystem millions of years in the making.

OK, wilderness and wildlife protection and archaeological exploration are not for everybody. Of course we Americans, and on a larger scale, we human beings can continue to desecrate wild places and excavate and drill and cut and contaminate — but what are we going to say to our grandchildren when they ask, can we go look at the stars tonight?

Can we go canoeing in Minnesota without worrying about the new mining operation fouling the watershed? Can we go camping in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and roast marshmallows over a fire and go for a walk in the woods and maybe see a moose?

Aided and abetted by elected politicians, other countries and international corporations stand to benefit as they desecrate our riches, take our resources, fell our trees and foul our waters.

Please let Sen. Collins know how much you value your public lands and want them preserved for the future rather than desecrated for foreign and international corporation profit-taking.