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Show . FEEDBACK (Continued) run into the ugly reality of what the place has become, and it breaks my heart. Your penetrating April/May issue of the Zephyr ("It’s Time to Look in the Mirror") hit the nail on the head. I’ve been painfully aware for years of the impacts to canyon country from recreation and population growth, and appreciate your spelling it out, even though you are preaching to the choir. The great herds of fun hogs will keep swarming over the canyon country of southern Utah in ever increasing numbers for a long time to come—that is unlikely to change in our lifetime. What you and other patriots have been doing there to stem this menacing tide and mitigate its impacts is admirable, but I fear the inexorable forces of greed, affluence, and unchecked population growth will prevail despite all efforts at sustainability and sanity. T have seen the future, it is here—an apocalyptic invasion of millions of tourons and fun hogs in their RVs, SUVs, ATVs, Humvees, ORVs, and all manner of contraptions with which to trample the earth into a barren wasteland. These pilgrims of excess on their crusades to the canyons are a great, crushing multitude, seemingly without end. You ain't seen nothin’ yet. In all honesty, I’d rather have the mining, grazing, logging and other extractive industries which seem relatively quaint by comparison. At least I could find solitude then. I think Abbey would agree with me on this preference for far fewer people, except for the ladies of course ("A pretty girl can do no wrong"). I’m reminded of a bumper sticker I saw a few years ago in Santa Fe: "More Strip Mining—Less Tourism.” I know something about industrial impacts on the planet, having worked many years as an environmental professional in regulatory agencies, and I am serious in preferring them to what we have now. You may surmise I am, like Abbey, a bit misanthropic. This is one reason I have So, farewell Moab. We had some great times together. I should have known it couldn't last. You won’t be lonely —you'll be courted by the swarming masses, the human termite colonies that don’t seem to mind crawling around on top of one another. But not me—I'm not an insect or a herd animal. I’ll have to find another place where it is still quiet and empty. It just won't be as scenic, and the people won’t be as hip and beautiful as they are around Moab. Believe it or not, there are still places on Turtle Island that have stable or declining populations. Me and my antisocial Dingo-dog will hide out in such a refuge, and I’m not saying where it is. Good luck to you old-timers who hang on there. Thanks for listening to another grumpy gray-beard bitching about the way it used to be. Dennis Slifer Santa Fe, NM = The long version of this letter appears on the web site...]S Zephyr Missed the Point Dear Jim, While visiting family in Castle Valley,-I read your articles in The Zephyr about the environmental struggle. Your position was that the so-called environmentalists and cyclers are having a devastating effect on the environment, exactly what you all moved to Moab to prevent. Also you felt like you were becoming more like the old ranchers in some ways. I know that I’m only approximating your positions. I think you completely missed the point and are only continuing to evade the real issue and mislead your readers. What you are missing in your analysis and what we all are evading is that we as individuals and as a nation are living on stolen land. We are walking and cycling on earth soaked with blood of the native people. We the conquerers, the occupiers, the settlers are the environmental/social problem-whether we ride a bicycle or a John Deere. According to Ward Churchill (The Struggle for the Land) the United States (ie:11s) has no legal claim to at least 1/3-of it’s/our current land base. Within the borders of current Indian land, we always been drawn to the wild, empty, lonely, quiet, desolate canyon country of southern Utah—it was, until recently, a place where I could always find solitude and freedom. and the US of A are running amok. The struggle for the land is here and now. We must advocate respecting Indian treaty rights; reparations to the native people and a struggle for Sartre’s admonition that "Hell is Other People" has always resonated with me in this crowded world with which I am stuck, and now, sadly, even the.canyon country is turning into another crowded version of hell. Having witnessed the same repeated ruination of every place I’ve ever lived or loved, misanthropy seems a natural response. A few years ago I’d say to companions that I would not hike, camp, or do anything within about twenty miles of Moab because that country is over-run most of the time. Now, I’m revising my range of tolerance out to at least fifty miles based on recent observations of fun hog impacts. Anyone with eyes and ears can corroborate that the impacts are nearly ubiquitous. The damn place is being not just loved to death, but plumb wore out! It's Indian self-determination and sovereignty. That is the pee) contradiction, not how many or how few healthy white people ride their bikes. getting very difficult to find any place around Moab that is not trampled and scarred with tracks of all kinds, and as you know, these don’t go away for a very long time. Footprints, bicycle tracks, motorcycle and ORV tracks, jeep and SUV tracks—you name it, some fool has been there, and is probably still nearby (you'll hear his noise soon—-the dirt bike snarling, the yuppy yipping, dogs barking, car stereos blasting in camps, ad nauseam.) On my recent and perhaps last camping trip to the area, during which I sought out remote and seemingly unpopular places, I saw and heard people nearly everywhere I went. And the signs of their passing were shockingly abundant. It was taken a few miles south of Moab near the old airport and shows major 4x4 vehicle scars made on a steep hillside very recently—probably during the insane onslaught of the jeep jamboree that had just blown through the area. What a plague of locusts that has become. A curse rivaling | anything Biblical in my opinion. How ironic to think that the area was "saved" from the greedy clutches of extractive industry to meet its fate at the hands (wheels, actually) of the tourism/recreation industry. But let’s not unfairly pick on poor Moab here—the devastation is also occurring across the Colorado Plateau. For example, look at the changes in recent years on Cedar Mesa and Grand Gulch. Its coming soon, to a canyon near you! Pay your fees and make your reservations (years in advance will soon be the reality). Camp only in designated spots and drive/hike only on designated roads and trails. No dogs. No campfires. Defecate, urinate, and fornicate only in approved locations. Leave no trace. Don’t forget your film and guidebooks! Your point about the evils of backcountry. siidciosle is. well taken, but in my experience people learn about the neat, secret places whether these places are touted in a guidebook or not. People just can’t keep secrets—it is human nature to want to share this stuff. Word of the secret places spreads like noxious weeds. Even the Park Service knows a policy of secrecy is futile. It only takes one person, not necessarily a guidebook, to put an obscure place on the public's radar screen. Now to fall off my soap box and point out the absurd hypocrisy of all this—-I admit to being an author of a guidebook. I justified it by clearing the locations with land managers and including a strong conservation education message, but perhaps that is all self-serving bullshit too. Perhaps I should be ashamed. What was I thinking? I can’t take it back now, even ifI wanted to. I have looked in the mirror. I have met the ‘enemy. It is me too. JOIN THE UTAH 2 $50 2 $100 7.9250 $500 The Utah Environmental Congress is a 501 (3) nonprofit organization and all contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. 1817 S. Main St. Salt Lake City, UT 84115 801.466.4055 www.uec-utah.org ranching, so it’s important for someone with that heritage to point out some of the history and the evolution of attitudes. After reading the beginning, it surprised me that the author considered the Grand Staircase /Escalante National Mormment such a disaster-—untilI read further. Hearing about the designation, some of us considered it a good idea in light of pressure from developers and commercial abusers of the land, although he is certainly correct about the impacts of new hordes of visitors. I heartily agree that keeping those impacts to an acceptable minimum is as important as controlling and reducing any other form of degradation. I think many of us didn’t realize there were people like Mr. Sleight pushing for wilderness designation. Maybe a lot of people would have been happy to support that if we’d known. Do keep up the good work with Oe publication. I picked up the "Zephyr" on a 3-day business trip to Moab. Despite the area’s attractions, I don’t intend ever to increase your population problems. I would, however, like to request a subscription and support thoughtful inquiry and exchange about how we live on this earth. Jeanne Pendergast Flagstaff, Arizona E Mail Your Feedback Comments: Tf you'd the to send us some Feedback via e mail we can be reached at: zephyr@moci.net Please specify whether your comments are intended for publication. oO for its irresponsible timber sales and other management practices that harm our forests. Help us protect our remaining roadless forestlands so that they may be designated as wilderness in the future. = $25 Excellent point. Thanks...]S Family Ranches & Good Stewardship Editor: Out of many worthwhile articles in the April-May 2001 issue, I’ll comment only about "From Around the Bend Again..." Obviously those of us who care about the land and the living communities on it need to talk to each other more effectively. It doesn’t matter who acts to preserve natural areas, or how, as long as it happens. I appreciate Mr. Sleight’s discussion about family farms and ranches, and the increasing concern for good stewardship. My background is very different, without any direct exposure to farming or Ss ENVIRONMENTAL CONGRESS Join U.E.C. and hold the Forest Service accountable Enclosed is my membership aes of: _ Ui Dave Reardon O.A.RS. North American River 543 N. Main St. Moab, UT 84532 Enviro Wilderness Whitewater Rafting 6 4WD Tours in Canyonlands 6 Arches National Parks. 435.259.5865 email: moab@oars.com www.oafsutah.com © |