On June 21 state Rep. Brian Ellis introduced H.B. 2013, which proposes to amend the 1995 Conservation and Natural Resources Act to allow commercial development in Pennsylvania’s 121 state parks. The bill wants to allow private developers to build golf courses, amusement parks, water parks, ski areas, hotels, resorts, restaurants and office buildings in our state parks. The bill would create a public-private state park partnership board with members appointed by the General Assembly to propose and oversee development projects.

What part of the definition of the word “park,” which according to Merriam-Webster is “an area maintained in its natural state as a public property,” does Ellis not understand?

Our state parks should have only one primary purpose: the preservation of the land in its natural state, protected from human destruction or interference. Outdoor recreation should be the tertiary purpose of state parks, second only to land preservation. Our award-winning state parks should never be opened to development of any kind for any purpose. They are not something that can be sacrificed just because the Republicans in the state Legislature can’t get their fiscal house in order.

I’m sure Ellis, being a Butler native, had Moraine in mind when introducing this bill. A golf course and a ski area have both been proposed for the park in the past, but were defeated by people with more sense than today’s politicians.

Imagine a hotel on the rim of McConnell’s Mill looking down the gorge, having destroyed old-growth hemlocks and glacial erratics deposited during the last Ice Age. Or perhaps a restaurant in Jennings’ Blazing Star Prairie, devastating the only natural prairie in Pennsylvania, the easternmost in the entire U.S., and another relic of glaciation.

Ellis’ ideas are simply ludicrous, and they deserve nothing but swift and vehement defeat. The Sierra Club, PennFuture, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, the Nature Conservancy Pennsylvania Chapter, the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Fund, and Clean Water Action have all expressed opposition to the bill, and have even threatened to fight it in court.

I urge everyone reading this letter to join them and me in voicing their opposition to this bill. Please contact Ellis by calling 717-787-7686, by e-mail at bellis@pahousegop.com. This bill must be defeated.