Democrat Gary Trauner is running to represent Wyoming in the US House of Representatives, but he is also working to represent all of us who believe in protecting the natural heritage of America. Speaking about the recent opening of 12,000 acres of public land to oil and gas drilling, Trauner said, “No Wyoming family would sell their furniture to make their mortgage payment, and they don’t want their public lands sold to pay off the country’s debt.”

Trauner has got a good point. Our public lands in their natural state are like the furniture of America. They are the setting that gives our nation its character. Knock them flat and bare, or cover them with junk and stain them with oils and slag, and the United States of America will still be here, but the country itself will no longer exist.

Trauner’s opponent, Republican incumbent Barbara Cubin, doesn’t seem to understand this basic point of the nature of the American nation. She stands by, mute, while our public lands are ravaged. In 2006, it is time that we stand up and insist that our government stop fouling our own house. In Wyoming, supporting Gary Trauner’s campaign to replace Barbara Cubin is a good place to start.