Can You Believe Them?

  • Is the U.S. Federal Government making decisions based upon the true facts or is it being hood-winked by corporate interests? Please consider the following:

    The original version of the following quoted passage can be found by clicking here.

    The 1997 research was commissioned by the Recreation Roundtable, comprised of twenty of the recreation industry's leading CEOs. It was conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide and is the fourth in a series of annual surveys of the American public, seeking to measure recreation motivation and satisfaction levels as well as participation patterns. Among the results of the survey has been the finding that regular recreation participation is linked to quality of life and happiness with life, friends and career.

    The 1997 research was unique because it enjoyed the support of four federal agencies: the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Federal Highway Administration. The study sponsors will meet after studying the findings to decide upon appropriate activities to enhance recreation quality in America for customers common to the public and private sectors. Responses will be based upon public/private cooperation and coordination.

     

  • The Federal agencies just mentioned are not the only government bodies who rely upon Roper studies. For example, Roper Starch Worldwide also conducts surveys used by the Congressionally mandated National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, as the following quote reveals.

    Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors of American Youth reports on a survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide for the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. The text is available on-line from EE-Link...

     

  • But who is Roper Starch? And is their information reliable? The following article should answer these questions!

    Ethics for Beginners: PR Faces a Skeptical Public

    by:   Joel Bleifuss

    Americans are in a cynical mood, according to the polling firm, Roper Starch Worldwide.

    In a presentation to the PRSA annual convention, Roper Vice President, Tom Miller, reported survey results showing that the percentage of the population which believes business executives are less honest than other people has risen from 24 percent in 1984 to 33 percent in 1996. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who believe it is a responsibility of business to act honestly has dropped, from 84 percent to 65 percent.

    "The bad news is Americans are much more cynical about business," said Miller. "The good news," he quipped, "is that Americans' expectations for honesty among businesses have gone down."   The standing-room audience laughed appreciatively.

     

  • It's no laughing matter, when private companies (like Roper) are financed by corporate industrial groups (like the Recreaction Roundtable) to bamboozle federal government agencies (like the U.S. Forest Service). The issue at stake is who should manage, own, and control OUR public-lands: the lands we, the people of America, now own. This is serious business. And, unfortunately, it's also BIG business.

    Is what's transpiring behind closed doors in our Capitol "democracy", or is this just all a big game being controlled by corporate and political forces far removed from the likes of you and me?

     

    This document was prepared by Wild Wilderness as a "Lead for Exploration". To learn more about ongoing industry-backed congressional efforts to motorize, commercialize, and privatize America's public lands, contact:

    Scott Silver, Executive Director,
    Wild Wilderness
    248 NW Wilmington Avenue,  Bend  OR 97701
    Phone (541) 385-5261    E-mail: ssilver@wildwilderness.org