Eminent Domain

The Right of Eminent Domain Eminent domain -- the right of a government to take private property for public use by the superior dominion of the sovereign power over all lands within its authority. The United States uses Eminent Domain to put aside land every year for National Parks (i.e. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Everglades). However, in recent years, the government has been under attack for seizing these lands. Some people argue it’s a violation of the Fifth Amendment which states that any land taken by the government from private property must be given compensation. Because of this, it has become more challenging for the United States government to reserve land for public use. A new bill was put in place in 2015 called in H.R.330. This bill

We will never again experience nature from the Ice Age or the Prehistoric Period. With all the development around the country, how many different species of plants and animals will disappear without anyone knowing they existed? As a Transcendentalist, Emerson was pro-nature and loved nature so much that he wrote an article about it named “Nature”. An excerpt from “Nature” stated, “A nobler want of man is served by nature, namely, the love of Beauty” (900). As humans, we desire to see new sites to push past the boundaries. Last summer, I traveled to Yellowstone National Park and it was breathtaking. I remember pulling into the park and just breathing in the smell of pine trees. As we were driving through the lush, green trees two brown bears emerged from the woods and calmly crossed the street. Later, we drove up the mountain and could see the entire park. It was an unforgettable sight, I saw everything from the various mountains to the pines and I could even see Old Faithful. Yes, there are tiny stores around for supplies, but compared to the rest of the country, it is pure. It is still mostly untouched by society except to gaze at its magnificence and pure beauty. The green in the trees to the beautiful blue in the sky was just breathtaking. There were no signs of pollution anywhere. I especially loved seeing the falls that went through Yellowstone. The water was crystal blue and was so cold and smooth

This will not be a quick or easy process, but it is doable. Carson reflects, “It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that now inhabits the earth … life reached a state of adjustment and balance with its surrounding” (890). Just because this process of protecting and eventually rebuilding our ecosystem may not ever be complete, does not mean that we can give up. We must be willing to take the first step and allow eminent domain to continue. As Fredrick Douglas once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no