Today I was able to talk to Deirdre Delisi from George W Bush's campaign. She is in charge of the environmental platform that Bush is wanting to take to the Whitehouse. I do have her permission to post my opinion of my conversation in public and private forums. She has the address for dirtrider.net and I urged her to take a look so she could see how people are responding to this message.

First off, I was very impressed with her candor. She talked about multi-use many times. She also pointed out that Texas lands is held 97% by private land owners yet Bush was able to work with those land owners to expand multi-use and still preserve open land in his state.

Please keep in mind that this information is paraphrased from the notes I took during the conversation. I have carbon copied a few people that I know who live in Texas to see what comments they have.

Here are some bulleted points from my conversation:

*Bush believes in public participation and cooperation. Not Command and Control politics from the federal level.
*Bush wants to set high standards and expectations and leave it to the states to accomplish what is necessary in their respective state.
*Bush is a strong conservationist who believes there should be a shift in mentality at the Federal Level.
*Bush wants to enforce full funding for land conservation. Currently it is set up where 50% of the money is to go to the federal government and 50% is to go to the states. So far the states are not getting their 50% and Bush wants to change that so they do. This way they can plan, maintain and expand areas for multi-use.
*Bush wants to encourage the government to improve its current philosophy and does not believe in grab and hold protectionism.
*Bush is very strongly opposed to the Roadless Initiative. It shouldn't have happened. The feds should work with local parties in situations like this. It is unclear how he would react to the Roadless Initiative when in office because of his strong opposition to the Federal Government overstepping its bounds. If he was to repeal the Roadless Initiative it would have to be done by either executive order (which I get the feeling Bush would be against) or through cooperation with local and state governments (which I presume will be how it is handled).
*Bush is a big supporter of tort reform. He has signed a package in Texas that has saved $3 billion in insurance. He believes in personal responsibility. That makes me think he would support Bill 4501 if it was in his state, however, Deirdre said that she doesn't know about the specifics of the bill so she can only comment on the philosophy.
*Bush's philosophy is that everyone wants a cleaner environment, however economic and multi-use concerns are not the enemy of National Forests.
*Bush believes everyone should enjoy the land and it shouldn't be left to an elitist group.
*Bush wants the land issue to be less regulatory.

Here are some bulleted points from Bush's website on the Environment issue:

*Believes environmental standards must be based on the best science, market-driven technologies can provide solutions, and government should encourage innovation and going beyond compliance.
*Recognizes that global warming should be taken seriously but will require any decisions to be based on the best science; opposes Kyoto Protocol.
*Supports moratorium against offshore drilling in California and Florida.
*Opposes breaching dams in Pacific Northwest.
*Supports conservation of land, wetlands and habitat, particularly by private landowners.
*Supports protection of private property rights.
*Reinvest in America's natural resources by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and guarantee a 50% share of the LWCF for state and local conservation.
*Supports alleviating the substantial repair and improvement backlog facing our national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands.

I also found this from his website:

Governor Bush supports federal legislation that reinvests in America's natural resources by fully funding the LWCF, guarantees a 50 percent share of the LWCF for state and local conservation, and devotes federal funds to improve and repair our national parks and recreational areas. (I put the words improve and recreational in bold to make a point ? IJL).

My impression is positive. I really liked what she had to say on behalf of George W. Bush. She never once searched for something to say. I asked a question and she had a long detailed answer. She did not appear to be reading for a script or looking for the ?right thing to say.?

I called all 3 candidates headquarters and I called Bush's office last. Yet so far they are the only ones to respond. I informed each office that SCORE represents 8 clubs in the state of SC and that the total members of those clubs represent over 500 people, not counting our brethren in NOVA and the NCHSA.

From what I have seen on his website and heard from Deirdre there is nothing he has said that will get the environmentalists all fired up nor is there anything that really aligns him with any environmental agenda.

As a group we all want clean air and access to the natural resources. As an organization we fight to protect that through responsible activities and I believe that George W. Bush is the candidate that comes the closest to our stance on the environment issues.

I urge everyone to vote the way they think is best and most importantly, VOTE. Just take the above information into consideration.

For me, it was a toss up between McCain and Bush and with some of the information I have found on McCain my recent conversation with the Bush camp has helped me make my decision to vote for George W Bush.