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Show THE ZEPHYRMAY 89 PAGE 27 ....tread softly, because you tread on our Dreams by Jim Stiles Edward Abbey once said, "The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It We can have wilderness without freedom; we can only needs more defenders have wilderness without human Ife at all; but we cannot have freedom without wilderness.11 Anything precious and valuable in this life comes to us at a price. We have always paid dearly for Nothing that we ever treasure is free. freedom, and the same can be said of wilderness. When I talk about wilderness, Im not referring to the political, bureaucratic designation that the word evokes In peoples minds when they hear it Im not talking about Congressman Owens' five million acre bill, or Congressman Nielsons one million acre bill, or Earth First's! sixteen million acre proposal. Forget labels and designations, "wilderness study areas," and proposed legislation. Forget all that. Im not talking about that I'm talking about wilderness as a state of mind, a feeling, an emotion. Wilderness is any place where we find silence and solitude or adventure and If I'm picking through the ruins of an old mining cabin in the surprise. Yellow Cat and I look up through the darkness to the exposed rotting rafters and find myself eyeball to eyeball with a Great Horned Owl, who never blinks, and out-sta-res me, and backs me out the door, isnt that a wilderness If I'm walking down the dirt road between the Bears Ears with my experience? oak brush in front of me rustles, and a form begins to and the dog, suddenly from the leaves, and it turns out to be a beautiful, sleek, mountain emerge muscles whose lion, ripple in the sunlight as it walks silently in front of me, and then vanishes into the ravine below, Isnt that a wilderness experience? if I sit down on the rim near Muley PL, or on top of ML Ellen In the Henry Mountains, or Windy Point on the Uncompahgre Plateau, or the Mollie Hogans, or North Long Point, or UFO Hill or a thousand other lonely, lovely places, and I sit there for hours, and all I hear Is the wind, and the humming of my own brain, isn't that wilderness? What Im struggling to say Is, wilderness Is anywhere that we find things All these places wild and free and solitude that is long and unbroken. ... deserve our respect and our reverence and our concern, or they will surely die. We are watching a significant change in the way the canyon country of southeast Utah is used. It is becoming a recreation area and it is earning a worldwide reputation. People come here to backpack, to ride their mountain bicycles, to run their kayaks down the Colorado River, to challenge the It sheer, vertical sandstone walls with ropes and pitons, and carabiners. Is important to enjoy being outside, and breathing clean air, and testing one's physical and mental endurance. But its not enough. It is not enough to be an "outdoor enthusiasL or a "recreationlsL" It's great to come here to play, but this is not a playground. Nobody is In to us. The after who bask the desert sun, beneath pick up going people are ones skies who the to must be pellucid ultimately protect IL Those ready who use it the most, must be ready to pay the price. Every time we venture main street broiler 606 so. main 259-590- 8 congratulations kelly & tim espresso, pasta salads lunch specials gourmet burgers vegie sandwiches Orry a "Wt-K- 5iVe 13l . fo tuny. , -- i (il4. yoUr Wood And you- fob iqjvte.. mvr& - soul . yladWn. Ze' dalxsfinsk 1 or scale a cliff, or cross a valley, or run a river, we have how will our presence here affect the next person who comes along? If we do it right, they'll never know we were there. It's our privilege to be a part of these rocks and rivers, and to have a good time, but it's our moral obligation to care enough to assure that the rivers run wild and free, and the red rocks glow in the sundown sky. United Cable Television of Moab 89 No. Main 259-813- 6 on HBO CINEMAX Coming in May: Chevy Chase in Funny Farm Police Academy 5 Demi Moore in The Seventh Sign and RODNEY DANGERFIELD Opening Night At Rodneys Place k S farewell to abbie hoffman 1937-198- 9 iiii r. F&T |