According to this report in the LA Times – thanks to some underhanded politics – an area of designated wilderness in a Mississippi national park is going to be explored for mineral interests. The ‘exploration’ means they will use seismic tests (read: concussion charges that generate small earthquakes) within the wilderness designated area. This is significant for 2 reasons:

1. It abandons outright the principle of designated ‘wilderness,’ which has very strict limits on human activity. These limits most definitely cover seismic charges.

2. It sets a dangerous precedent for other designated wilderness areas to be opened to similar ‘exploration.’

The latter is less of a concern. If you read the article, you’ll find that the Republican governor of Mississippi, who happens to be the former chairman of the RNC, and a still powerful beltway lobbyist, has been dumbing up Mississippi regulatory agencies, and passing shifty laws to get this through. Any arrangement this incredibly one-sided in favor of environmental plunder would never get through voters in more reasonable states.

rob