OCR Text |
Show Saturday, October 10, 1998 The Park Record A-17 What is wild about wilderness? by Jim Powell RECORD GUEST WRITER Recently I wrote about my experience in the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It could have been in the Wasatch, the Uintas or the Rockies for that matter. I felt that I must be in the wilderness because I had back-packed back-packed in 4 12 miles from the trailhead located near a parking lot off a paved road. The trail was not well marked and took some effort to ascend over 1,000 feet. The camp area was not obviously prepared by the Forest Service for camping nor identi fied as such. This seemed like wilderness, wilder-ness, but was it? After all, we and other groups were in the area. There were trails leading in many directions. We had transformed a clearing clear-ing in the forest to a summer camp for easy living. Not a real wilderness by a long shot, but certainly a wonderful attainment of escape to nature. "Getting away from it all" is not actually being in the wilderness. It is doubtful that modern urbanized man could enjoy or even survive in the wilderness. Aborigines do survive and have survived for tens of thousands of years in inhospitable wilderness that we moderns would depart from or perish in within days without our technological support systems. John Krakaur describes this in "Into the Wilderness," the tragic story of a particularly thoughtful young man who was determined to survive in the wilderness of Alaska. In a sense he made his own wilderness, as he was not far from man-made trails. In fact, he finally took refuge in a deserted bus. Had he been better informed on the topography, climate cli-mate and flora, he might have survived. sur-vived. Aborigines survive with traditional knowledge gained from past millennia. Modern man has lost such knowledge and must rely on the best of current technology. tech-nology. Unfortunately, such technology tech-nology as it is currently applied is not always in harmony with wilderness. Our problem is manifold, mani-fold, how to protect what wilderness wilder-ness that remains, balanced against the immediate needs and desires of mankind. -WflftfcBPpultion jsbQunjjJo. increase";rartd BrHraTtians are certain cer-tain to aspire to the comforts that many of us take for granted. This will increase the pressure to tame wilderness translation "destroy wilderness or convert to urban." David Brower, when he was pres ident of the Sierra Club, said that the most important value of wilderness was it serving as a bench mark to measure from as man steadily changes the world. Otherwise we would have no idea the direction to recognize and alter changes to counter those that were adverse. It may even now be too late to retain the lifestyle and isolation from major world forces that we have become accustomed to. The alarm bells are sounding: global warming, ozone hole enlargement, marine die-offs, extinction of species and local famines in a time of world Deer Valley is the model of a handsome successful ski-in, ski-out resort and will spread into Empire Canyon either under the current well-considered plan or some creeping and possibly ugly and dangerous form of scattered growth. " Jim Powell food surpluses. Denial of technological techno-logical advances will only make things worse. Understanding and application of technology for long range human survival is by now the best hope, as our aboriginal condition exists no longer and could only be regained by unthinkable annihilation of most of our species. It is essential, however how-ever to preserve what wilderness does exist, at least until climatolo-gists climatolo-gists can figure out what we are doing to the earth. Why should we in Park City be concerned with the preservation of wilderness? The "town" is fast becoming a community that deserves to be called "city." We have most of the attributes of burgeoning bur-geoning population centers. Unlike so many urban areas, we are plunked in the middle of a natural wonderland, not wilderness wilder-ness however, as all of it has been transgressed for most of the century. cen-tury. In fact, the vestiges of wilderness are a bother to the town. Natural flora are weeds to be replaced with cropped green lawns. Natural wetlands are propped up with artificial berms then cloaked with commercial nursery type formal gardens that must be kept moist by sprinkler systems. A wandering moose in town is subject to being forcefully removed. Park City exists for contemporary con-temporary peopling! aborigines Around town we do have natural forests, magnificent mountain views and vast open spaces. There are those who are concerned that the forests are not enough and have used city resources to plant a landscaper's arrangement of a few sickly imported trees that will ultimately ulti-mately screen views of the mountains moun-tains now and historically enjoyed from the main road approaching the city. Some individuals argue that ski slopes and golf courses invalidate open spaces, as profit is being made from them. A citizen group vehemently opposes any growth that the city might approve regardless of its quality. Such opposition will only serve to cause encroachment on real wilderness. Growth need not be harmful. Growth is inevitable and it can be rational. Houses on a hill do not necessarily destroy the hill. Traffic and roads on a hill can propose severe hazards haz-ards and frustration unless expertly planned. The problem is not density and building hejght so much as access and quality. Park City was even less of a wilder- b ness in its former mining min-ing days. Evidence of its mining heritage is steadily vanishing, van-ishing, largely caused by uninformed unin-formed proscriptions enforced by the Historic District Commission and destructive fires. There are those who hope to achieve a pretty pret-ty Park City of phony fronts, pasted past-ed on rocks or bricks, flower baskets bas-kets and sprawling cookie cutter design so typical of other booming boom-ing developments. Then, there are those who would like to use this moment in our development to make Park City the foremost family all season resort that once seemed to be its destiny. A few years ago Park City was 'foremost among mountain resorts. Today it is scratching to keep up. Improvements and growth at the . Resort will help, bringing The Canyons into destination desti-nation class will add to the critical mass. Face it, Deer Valley is the model of a handsome successful ski-in, ski-out resort and will spread into Empire Canyon either under the current well-considered plan or some creeping and possi bly ugly and dangerous form of scattered growth. Park City will attain its place by making its surroundings desirable, desir-able, accessible and notable. Utah is blessed with great areas of nature and wilderness. Park City, I Utah, is situated so as to share this fame as a destination resort city in the' midst of'Utah Tnatufal "won-' ders. Jim Powell, who served in the 10th Mountain Division during WWII, is a long-time Park City resident and a member of the 70 Ski Club. E-mail your letter to the editor or guest editorial to: ncnoakermedianewsgroup.com Before guns, falcons were the royal weapon Come to Falcon's Ledge and hunt with shotgun and falcon. Enjoy premium pheasant hunting, luxury accommodations, fine dining; and the sport of kings. .. falconry. Call (435)454-3737 Falcon's Ledge Utah's only Orvis endorsed Flyfishing Lodge Visit our webaltc at www.falcoiulcdee.com No need to STAY C O it We Arc Having A Sale! Lowest Prices of the Year Quality Billiards Inc. LARGEST DISPLAY OF TABLES IN THE STATE If f ne 5 if Ij Santa Ana f Visit Us On Our Website HTTP:qualitybilliardsinc.com Financing Available 0, Free delivery to Park City QUALITY SINCE 1970 1630 South State Street, Salt Lake City 466-6815 or 1 -800-208-6800 Prices Effective Oct. 10 & 11, 1808 SATURDAY ONLY! No Rainchecks After 8 p.m. itfau uu-v ,r. nr AT oun Norbest Frozen QaG Ilk Fresh Sno White Gauliflorjer LOCATED AT 1500 SNOW CREEK DRIVE (BEHIND THE TOP STOP STATION AND THE MT. AIR CAFE) E C T E D , 1 1 ' i I 3IIBBflfiy I: sm1 w DIGITAL PCS 60 MINUTES 200 MINUTES VOICE MAIL, NUMERIC AND TEXT MESSAGING INCLUDED WITH THE FOLLOWING PARK CITY CELLULAR 63 AGS) $24.99 $39.99 400 MINUTES 600 MINUTES !800 MINUTES $49.99 $69.99 $99.99 NEW RATES!1 Ask About Free Minutes 901 CALLER I.D. PREFIX AVAILABL 100 OFF PEAK MINUTES $2.99 A MONTH 50 OFF INCOMING CALLS $2.99 A MONTH mm. Limit 2 Turkey's Per Family -i si . K PQQRCOPX |