OCR Text |
Show _THEZEPHYR/DECEMBER 2002/J ANUARY IN SUPPORT 2003 OF MATT MOORE | Editor, FROM THE DESK OF NED MUDD Stiles: After reading your reports on Katie Lee and the other "Great Ladies of the West,’ I felt one of those (fleeting) surges of inadequacy so common to us modern city-dwellers. I reckon "they don’t make em like they used to" is apt slang to describe those remarkable Western matriarchs. You’re to be saluted for bringing them the attention they richly deserve. Makes you wish you'd been born a couple of decades earlier, eh? Meanwhile, some serious idiots (politicians) in Alabama conjured up a diabolical scheme to tunnel under my favorite river (the Cahaba) in hopes of building Dixie's dumbest sewer pipe. To add injury to insult, the fools designed the tunnel to zig zag under the Cahaba more than a dozen times, sometimes a mere 10 feet below the river bed. Too bad for them, they bumped into some funky rock formations, and came perilously close to threatening _ the drinking water for three quarters of a million people, which includes yours truly. As you can imagine, Sewergate caused all hell to break loose down here and there’s more crud flying than you can find on E-Bay. We're talking major mojo, Stiles: rumors of an FBI investigation; carloads of lawyers; radio.talk show freak-outs; hippies wearing "Stop the Super Sewer" t-shirts; ample amounts of garden variety slander, knuckle waving, and the occasional stiff middle finger (which I now refer to as The Katie Lee Salute!). What few of my comrades have figured out is that a disruption in the drinking water supply will cause an immediate and unheralded mass exodus of primates in their shiny . new luxury edition SUVs. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so; nothing like a reduction in the population to call for a juicy celebration. But this is not the time to be holding one’s breath, at least not here, where ground level ozone has been observed to trigger dastardly ‘reactions in human lung tissue. So, it’s batten down the hatches and man the battleships until further notice. On second thought, maybe we should form a syndicate of DNA-damaged eco-freaks and make a play for the Pack Creek Ranch; the sort of offer that Monsieur Sleight can’t refuse. I figure it would take less than an hour to change the sign out front to "The Monkey Wrench Gang Motel---winos welcome.” We could set the rates based upon our guest's history of direct action against dumb-ass subdivisions, neon’ billboards, clear cuts, ugly _ shopping strips, and---of course---government subsidized sub-urban sewers.* The old ways are changing fast and we gotta make a stand while there’s still a place -worth standing on. The Greed Heads are winning. We're looking at wars and rumors of wars, melting 401-ks, a Wal-Mart on every block, camouflaged tent camps in the Tetons; it’s the dumbing down of an entire civilization on 57 channels of televised vicarious reality. : As a long time visitor to Arches, I would like to wade in with my opinion. My name is Steve Ramras and | first visited the park in 1976 and have averaged a little over 2 visits to the area per year. While I fall on the side of limiting guiding or eliminating it in Arches, I need to take exception with your implication that social trails and the one you showed in particular were caused by guiding services, the one owned by Mr. Moore or anyone else’s. This trail and many others have existed for many, many years. I consider myself to be an involved and savvy environmentalist and outdoorsman with many a day "out there’. [had the good fortune to meet Mr. Moore for a couple of social days of adventure last November and again in February. We were in the company of several leaders of the American Canyoneering Association: Matt and I, knowing the area best, took to a leadership role on several days out. eS I thought I had been above reproach as to "walk softly and leave no trace” ethic. But, I learned a few things in those days. With a smile and passion, we made a game of not even leaving "footprints in. the sand" let alone creating social trails. The man you describe and the one I met and now consider my friend are 2 very different people. Without knowing, I can only guess that you have never spent a day out with this fellow. If that is true, you should rectify that as soon as you can. Regardless of any of our views, the day is guaranteed to be fun and educational. Thank You, Steve Ramras E Mail Your Feedback Comments: If youd like to send us some Feedback via e mail we can be reached at: cczephyr@frontiernet.net Please specify whether your comments are in tended for publication. COMMERCIAL CANYONEERING Editor, . I would like to thank you for bringing the matter of backcountry commercial exploitation at Arches National Park to the public’s attention. So much of the park has already been ruined since they started paving the roads back in Abbey’s time, it would seem like any further attacks should be stopped immediately. And don’t let Matt Moore, the owner of the canyoneering company, bother you with his "LIBEL! DEFAMATION!" attacks. Usually when somebody makes those kinds of _ ,accusations, they're just scared and afraid of the light that’s being shined on them, so they 6 This,is.a time. to, dig in and The Monkey. Wrench. Gang Motel; looks, like as good ai; _-try-to.divert the public scrutiny by making charges at somebody else. You havea lot of guts to put a link to the "long version” of his attack letter on your web site. Although, ultimately, ., bunker as any, I figure we.could make, enough beer in the ranch’s old, swimming pool to “he trivializes himself with such. silliness. finance the operation. One thing I am confused by. I was able to figure out the company name and did go to Hang in there, Stiles. his home page, where I was surprised to see that he.is a "proud business member of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance." Surely they have concerns of their own about this kind Truly, of activity and its future consequences. Are they involved in this? Mudd Praise be to the Great Hairy Thunderer that there are still hinatics out there like Ned Mudd...JS A DATE AGAINST Sincerely, Jack Bannion Riverside, CA. WITH THE LONESOME LADY When the Lonesome Lady was shot down during a bombing run in the Inland Sea of Japan, pilot T.C Cartwright and his crew became POWs. The men were interned at Hiroshima, and while the author was sent to Tokyo for interrogation, his entire crew was killed by the U.S. atomic bomb. After repatriation, the author comes to terms with the military's failure to properly report the deaths of his crew and eventually returns to Japan, where a historian has adopted the cause of Americans killed by the atomic bomb. A poignant story featured in the New York Times Magazine and in several newspaper articles and documentaries, told for the first time in its entirety and in the author's own words. Available at: ARCHES BOOK COMPANY 78N. Main St 435.259.0782 www.archesbookcompany.com BACK of BEYOND BOOKS 83 N. Main St. 435.259.5154 wuww.moab.net/backofbeyond ~ |