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Show FEEDBACK Continued from previous page. FROM THE MAN WHO SELLS SECRETS FOR 15 BUCKS This email is meant to be a comment for publication in the next FEEDBACK section of the Zephyr!!!\ would like to thank Mr. Stiles for mentioning my website, and its foremost outdoor program "The Circle of Friends', in his article 'The Greening of the Wilderne$$ in Utah History’. The publicity generated has been large, positive and welcome. We work hard to make Southern Utah enjoyable and accessible to those who are interested in its outdoor opportunities. We look forward to providing the public with information, maps and route descriptions to all of Mr. Style’s beloved and clandestine places. With our help there is no need to spend years as a local resident or National Park employee to gain the maximum value from outdoor recreation in Southern Utah. We look forward to reading future rants from Mr. Style's. Shane Burrows Draper, Utah Editor’s Note: Thanks for making my point Shane. Yes, appreciate the beauty of the canyons...just send that $15...JS there’s not even a need to FROM A RURAL UTAHN WHO LOVES WILDERNESS im, Yes, I finished your article (over the course of two days). First, a little background: I was born and raised in the quaint little town of Tropic, Utah adjacent to Bryce Canyon National Park. My family has occupied the greater Bryce Valley area for at least five generations. My great Grandpa was the infamous county-commissioner/LDS stake-president/roadbuilding /sheep-herding/patriarch/father of ten Sam Pollock. An arch near Hackberry Canyon bares his name (that sort of infamous). So you get the idea of what sort of environment I was raised in. I’m proud of my heritage and I love my family. But “wilderness” was a dirty word. However, as a child I lived outdoors. Bryce Canyon was literally my backyard. I spent much time “punching” cows as my Dad held grazing permits on the Kaiparowits Plateau and Dixie National Forest. I hunted, fished, hiked, built huts in the foothills of Bryce Canyon, etc. I fully appreciated “wilderness” without realizing a name was attached to it. But it was still a dirty word. After high school I spent a typical Utah-boy, two-year stint overseas in the country of Scotland. Five subsequent years of college and seasonal employment with the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management ensued. I now find myself working as a backcountry ranger for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Escalante, Utah (I didn’t plan it that way; it just happened). After years of reading, hiking, thinking, and—yes—solitude, I consider myself a “wilderness advocate.” However, since this “conversion” occurred I’ve been pissed off at both sides. I’m sitting on the fence amidst this polarization with a panging urge to slap both enviros and ranchers in the face—several good, hard slaps mind you. They just don’t get it and it frustrates the hell out of me. This is coming from someone who has dedicated his life to these damn landscapes. A good friend of mine mentioned once that these landscapes don’t touch her heart; conversely, they reach in, grab hold of her heart, and squeeze. I echo her sentiments one-hundred percent. But the change is killing me. I hope you're right in your assumption that “Escalante, Utah is eons away from becoming the next New West town.” FYI, A Hogi Yogi just arrived near the entrance of Bryce Canyon; it’s happening. I recently viewed a photograph of my hometown (Tropic) from the mid-1980s (when I was happy and oblivious in elementary school). To gaze upon this as it appeared twenty years ago and to consider what it looks like now literally evoked tears. Bowdie wept. I’ve often thought of gathering my frustrations into words. Your words struck me. Now I’m even more inspired. I know you're often accused of whining but you said what needed saying in a pragmatic fashion. Hopefully those standing on each side of this pragmatic fence we’re sitting on will listen...dammit. Thanks for the enrichment. Bowdie Pollock Escalante, Utah OMISSIONS & ADDITIONS TO THE “GREENING’ STORY Dear Letter to the Editor: Ijust finished reading your tome on the shortcomings of the environmentalists’ strategy for preserving wilderness, or rather absence of strategy, that is, your observation that none of them make a peep about the rampant development. You attribute this to several factors --- they were the ones who promoted ecotourism to start with as a means of preserving the wilderness but now that it has gotten out of hand --- either by an excess of people in general or by its extension into motor vehicle usage --- they say nothing because those making a buck off this new industry cleverly fund the environmental coffers and the environmentalist touted this economic strategy for years. I think that’s succinctly sums up the article, right? In an article of that length I think it was incumbent upon you to mention a recent huge success, the Castle Rock Collaboration’s momentous defeat of private development in Castle Valley, right? Imean that was a great and enormous victory. Admittedly, the article mostly focused on the adventure tourism market in Utah, but you made a side point that residential development is an outcome perforce of the eco-tourism industry. So it is worth noting that victory. I’m not sure if you are advocating against the amenities business in toto. I think people should come to these areas as I believe it will induce them to want to preserve them upon seeing their beauty --- but to this you point out the 500 tours in the remote areas of Arches, that is, the numbers are destroying the beauty. But the counterpart to that is quotas. Only allow so many people entry per day or per week into Arches through the front door at least. Sustainable tourism it is called. Why be against non-motorized recreationist in toto? Ultimately I 100% agree with you that it is baffling that the eco-groups are not fighting the commercial development. The commodification of the wilderness to preserve it ---- like burning the Vietnamese villages to save them. The illogic of Western civilization. I love your point that the New West contingent are so entrenched in their Comforts that they do not recognize the enemy within. Some of your writing is so poignant --- building homes “far bigger than anything we'd ever need to be happy” Whata line. You write, “How can we condemn oil exploration when our own consumption of oil is staggering?” Harper’s had an excellent article entitled The Oil We Eat, available at http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/080904G.shtml , and it’s worth reading. This is a whole different subject, but what about the eco-warriors who destroy ski recreational land development plots like in Aspen, SUVs sitting in dealership parking lots, and the like? Now these are people taking action. It would have been interesting for you to at least comment on activists who bring results on the very point your are making — to take action against the those who directly or indirectly adversely impact wilderness for amenities --- although that topic would open a can of worms, an age-old discussion on tactics, means justifying the ends and all that EF! business. Circle of Friends: I’m shocked you exposed the name, providing the guy's exasperating website publicity?!! Kinda defeating the point since Circle of Friends is so google-able. To your credit, you criticize the very people who provide advertising to the paper, primarily the adventure tours companies but also all the enterprises it spawns that would never have sprouted without the commodification of the wilderness -- their trickling tributaries, such as cafes, bakeries, the art shops, realtors, etc. You take a risk that they will withdraw their money which provides you the very forum for a view that attacks them. Either you have massive cajones or you've been around long enough that you're confident most folks are accustomed to your forthrightness and grant you your opinion. gadfly, if you will. The village Colleen McGuire i Castle Valley / Athens, Greece Thanks for your addendums and observations. Re: “Circle of Friends,” I felt that the story: lacked credibility if 1 didn‘ identity the culprit. I also have to believe that people taking the time to read all those words are not doing it in hopes of finding $15 “secrets.” I think that any newspaper willing to express an opinion must be willing to “bite the hand that feeds it’ and hope for the best. At the very least, envi fal organizations who accept funding from wealthy individuals (not to mention corporations) must be willing to do likewise...JS MORE RUMINATIONS ON THE GREENING OF WILDERNE$$ Dear Jim, These questions have bothered me for years. As an artist I'm aware that developers are always hunting the next trendy art district(cover your trail.) I don't have the answers but I need to respond. I do feel some regret because I embraced the ideas that encouraged this trend, but we need to be careful before we place blame. This could be just a new variation of gentrification or suburban sprawl taken to it's perfectionist extreme. Chambers of ‘Commerce have been dreaming of this for generations(300 days of sunshine a year.) Ski resorts without the snow. SEND YOUR FEEDBACK COMMENTS TO: cczephyr@frontiernet.net KUDOS moabzephyr@yahoo.com TO NED MUDD I just read Ned Mudd's article "Welcome to the the Dimformation Age" and am truly inspired...inspired enough to subscribe! My husband and I usually try to pick up every issue at Main Street Bagels in Grand Junction, CO...but we are now subscribing just to make sure we don't miss anything and to support something real /local. It is the only thing I've read for a while that is worth Heane: hell, I'd pick it up just for the cartoon characters! Thanks for the inspiration (and if you like to print my email, fine by me) Cindy Lomax Grand Jct, CO MORE PRAISE FOR MUDD Stiles---once agin, excellent issue- ned mudd is just my kind of curmudgeon (sp?). It would be great if he could do a regular column. The article on the greening of the movement- you hit the nail on the head, dude. Exactly the thoughts on the issue I've been having these past years but of course cannot articulate like the stilesmaster. I'm gonna pass it on to my ecofriends for their comments. keep up the good work! Scott Brodie, Boulder Utah PAGE 34 If this is true then we have bumped into that ugly troll under the bridge called the class struggle. America isn't about equality,it's about getting rich and looking down on the less fortunate. The most obvious way is to build a big house on the hill. If you need to prove something to the world or make a statement or just own the view, you may be compensating for some self-esteem issues, get some help. If you live in a custom home with no neighbors or no sidewalk you might be elitist, search your soul. Do you feel a need for privacy fencing or a walla private road or no tresspassing signs? Don't call a realtor,this is a problem for a mental health professional. Thanks, Larry Lindenberger St. Louis, MO TRYING TO FIND SOME BALANCE Dear Zephyr I just finished reading Jim's piece on the evolution of the capitalistic development of Moab and it's impact on the canyonlands, but I wish I had waited until next month to read it. Background. Three years ago my brother and I broke loose to drive the tourist attractions of Utah--Arches, Zion, Bryce, Powell..... You can count us among the multitudes of flatlanders who love your rugged neighborhood; we're coming back next week to raft the Cataract down to Hite; and we're cranked. After months of browsing all of the outfitters in Moab, taking into consideration that our somewhat advanced ages, we opted for sort of the "Cadillac" version of a rafting trip, our first, and perhaps only, down the Colorado. I don't have to explain to you Moabans what I'm talking about, do 1? Anyhow, after reading Jim's, sometimes very moving, editorial, I pondered. What will be the depth of my footprint in Utah's wilderness? I'm going to be one of the 1000's of transient humans jamming that stretch. Is my impact any different than theirs? I like to think that our collective footprint, as compared to the other "activities" that |