Nicholas Thompson at The New Yorker is surely more optimistic than I am that Paul Ryan, if elected, could mature into a Theodore Roosevelt-style conservationist, one whose desire to protect comes from his desire to explore and experience the wilderness.
Even so, his post, "Paul Ryan: Master of the Land" is worth reading for what it says about the great TR and about current political calculations regarding conservation.
I would have entitled it "Paul Ryan: Master of the Land?" The question mark is important, because Thompson falls far short of making the case that Ryan will come to understand the importance of conservation. But it's a smart analysis.
-Paul Raeburn
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