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This year, it\u2019s been estimated that about 350 million people will visit our national parks. Now if you\u2019re wondering why I\u2019m speaking about national parks, perhaps it\u2019s important to remember that Ronald Reagan was a serious outdoorsman. In April 1977, he wrote a radio address about the environment, four years before becoming president. And in 1984, he addressed the National Campers and Hikers Association in Bowling Green, Kentucky. As governor of California, Ronald Reagan had an admirable record of safeguarding the environment, to the surprise of some of his critics. Governor Reagan\u2019s administration added 145,000 acres of parkland, more than any other modern California governor. He enforced new, tougher measures on air and water quality. He stopped plans for dams on two rivers, the Feather and the Eel, despite intense pressure from commercial interests and signed into law a bill to protect California\u2019s wild and scenic rivers.