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Show THE ZEPHYRSEPTEMBER PAGE 30 ..ll.yiJ.lliHML.1 the readers respond Dear Jim: should not have been appalled by your article on guidebooks, which appeared the July Zephyr, since I have come to expect environmentalists radicalism from you as a matter of course, but I was appalled, and outraged! Not only do you damned environmentalists, by causing the removal of lands from maximum Industrial exploitation when you lock them up In national parks and wilderness areas, violate grossly the religious cornerstone of the fundamental American philosophy of development which Is Gods command In the book of Genesis for man to have dominion over the earth, you have the subversive gall to criticize those who seek to exercise their God-givright of free enterprise In commercially exploiting these parks and wilderness areas by writing guide books about them! The authors of such guide books and I, rightly view these parks and wilderness areas as, primarily, commodities to be turned Into profit, If at all possible. What Is wrong with that? That Is what this ferociously exploitive nation I In en Is all about! These authors should be admired for their cleverness and enterprise In turning even though they are not doing so on the scale we these locked-u- p lands Into profit like. would authors should be regarded as heros. Not only these Indeed, patriots really have they conquered the difficult terrain of the wilderness with the fierce ruggedness of their bodies, they have mapped Its noteworthy features and described It In minute, literary, detail, conquering It, thus, with their minds. The most heroic author of all, THE AUTHOR, If you will, Is of course, the great man Michael Kelsey. This man Is a hero Utah can so you viciously malign In your slimy article be proud of. With his lovely, poetic prose style, beautifully detailed maps and Incredible and artistic photos, he has conquered the wilderness with a mind of Incomparable literary brilliance one can only stand In awe of. If this were not enough, one cannot help but sink to ones knees In worshipful admiration of his physical prowess. Who else could do the fantastically varied and difficult hikes he describes with his amazing swiftness? Of course, when one contemplates In wonder the bulging musculature gracing his noble form as he stands heroically posed In almost all of his splendid photos, one could expect no less. (His books must be terribly popular with the ladles.) Why should the wilderness of Utah have any secret places for you damned environmentalists to play around In? The masses need to see them all of them! Of In course, the conditioning agents of mass media our society have done a superb Job In making all the masses marvelously obedient and meekly subservient consumers. Do you really expect them to think for themselves? You know they cannot They need to be told exactly what to do, In detail. They are totally Incapable of being tourists In the unfastldeous outdoorsmanshlp mode you speak of. Mr. Stiles, they need guidebooks. They desperately need guide books, If they are to democratically exploit the wilderness for their pampered pleasure. Are you against democracy? I hope you choke on your unrefined cuisine. Sincerely, Zeke Blckerstaff (I dont know whether to laugh or cry. Ed) Dear Editor: Greetings from the land of Joshua Trees and scared sheep! I ust finished reading the July Zephyr, and was sufficiently motivated to respond to your article entitled "Guide Books Make Good Kindling. I have no beef with Mr. Kelsey's usual 10-- k pace through Americas wonderlands. All the more likely that I wont run Into him. Mr. Kelsey Insists that we convert to kilometers. Take It up with the state highway departments and the local auto club. The occasional trail suggestions of where the author1 hasnt even hiked himself I It puts food on the table of our capable park rangers who must locate the poor souls. Some chapters Include Information and pictures leading to ruins and other sacred sites. Gives a pothunter another chance to stock his mantle. Back to your title about 'good klndllng'.....l wouldnt stink up a good Are with Mr. Kelsey's print No wonder I once noticed that Mr. Kelsey's peak register signature somewhere In the Henrys was altered by an astute hiker to, "Goober. It could well be that Mr. Kelsey Is a decent and Joe, but then In now.... 16 sun for Ive been the desert again, straight years well-intentio- ned With -1- 1990 1 a - Dear Editor: feedback Next time, ' For some months now, we who enjoy our bit of controversy once In a while Indulged In the forensic demonstration between Raquel Shumway vs. the Sierra Club recorded In these pages. Id sure like to extend (for what Its worth) a modicum of personal accolade to Ms. Shumway for singular bravery In the face of all the flack and animosity reflected In your feedback section. So what If her comment was not always In accord with her professional opposition. Especially as the whole argument seems to have depreciated Into a mere rehash of economical fractional differences between state and commercial "experts used as reference authority, andor a recapitulation of those typical conflicts forever going on among the various bureaus at the Federal Cabinet level. And I'd like to suggest that Ms. Shumway superbly represents what has been called the Good Old American Way. Sentimentalists can embellish this with apple pie, home and mother, If they like. It was the Good Old American Way that gave homes to many millions where the buffalo roamed, and replaced the deer and antelope playground with amber waves of grain. (All In the course of five or six generations of our species.) It was the Good Old American Way that probed these mountains, hills and deserts for valuable resources suitable for commercial exploitation. And It was the Good Old American Way, using (certainly) the materials, and at least In large part, the revenues derived from commercial exploitation that caused the gigantic web of concrete and asphalt arteries to enmesh all. Thus, It Is one of these arteries (Highway 191) that serves the Immediate, everyday needs of Moab In social as well as commercial exchange. It Is also a channel for tourist flow (thoroughly pro and conned In the above debate) or those Individuals with money In their pockets, who, In the Good Old American Way have a constitutional right to go anywhere they want to go, and the almost constitutional right to do anything they damn well please once they get there. (The exercise of this "privilege was admirably Illustrated by Mr. R J. Gam In his letter to the editor, Zephyr. May Issue.) In the Good Old American Way, Individuals can neither be accepted or rejected because of attitude or behavior, unless the latter Is very significantly felonious. It Is far too early to evaluate or even gauge the Impact of the tremendous ground swell of popular environmentalism on American lifestyle, or on the Good Old American Way. From the very start, environmentalism has been on a collision course with these. Environmentalism Is a new word. At least It Is not listed In my old Webster's. If the Is late Edward Abbey perhaps not yet (?) the acknowledged founder of environmentalism, he was certainly a major Impetus and Inspiration In the growth of the movement In that assembly, the word (or science of) ecology was rarely used even among the more learned circles of biology a generation ago has become a household word. The environment used to be that little area where you lived, thrived and propagated;.- - the zone you energetically defended against undesirable Intrusion and destruction until death, If need be. Suddenly, the popular environment has become the whole planet to be defended with the same fervor. And many millions of us have been given an opportunity to become alarmed over pollution, topographical abuse, and wholesale destruction of 20-y- ear over-populati- on, non-renewa- ble resources. the other hand: The only reason why environmentalism exists In the first place follows from the natural behavior of that vertebrate (classed mammal); of the family of homlnldae, and the single surviving species of the genus homo. That species has been named sapiens due to the freakish elaboration of the nervous system. It has been scientifically determined that that exaggerated departure from the zoological norm started over three million years since, and has continued even unto the present day. Ten thousand years ago, land use for agrarian pursuits was fairly well established, and five thousand years ago, the (acquired) carnivorous component in sapiens dietary needs was beginning to become more handily satisfied. Five hundred years ago, land use was beginning to become a significant three dimensional quantity, and particularly In the last two hundred years, land has come to be reckoned with In miles (or kilometers) below, as well as above an area measured In miles (or kilometers) squared. It surely Is a well known fact that wherever the sapient one goes, be It about, or up or down, destruction and pollution are an Immediate effect It Is suggested that those environmentalists whose goal Is to set aside certain areas and hold them Inviolate from land use... etc. contemplate a quote from the poetry of William Blake (or was It John Donne?): "No man Is an Island unto himself. There might be a great deal of truth In a parody quote: "No wilderness Is an Island unto Itself. If, and whenever I should meet, or even hear about a devoted environmentalist especially of the more extremist stripe -- - such as the Earth Flrster, surrendering the eenlest lota of his precious standard of living (his legacy from the Good Old American Way), I will begin to sit up and take notice. I may even grudgingly concede that, after all, there Is hope for the black footed ferret, the spotted owl, the squaw fish and the snail darter. And I shall truly try to stop thinking of him as a hypocrite, or a plain phony But I expect that upon that day, I shall also sit quietly by and watch the proverbial leopard change his spots. And until that time, Im afraid, I must continue to And pleasure and Inspiration In the visions of nature spelled out In the works of Emerson, Thoreau, Mulr...and Edward Abbey, and Ill continue to expect that somehow these glorious horizons will not altogether On vanish In an ambience of commercial and technological dissolution. Sincerely, best regards, G. Duncan, John Jaystone, Henning, TN Antelope Valley, CA Jim: Dear Mr. Stiles: We have read of your dislike of lycra clothing and believe that It can be attributed to one or both of two explanations: You are Jealous of those who have such fine sportswear; 1. 2. Youve never experienced the thrill of wearing such clothes. Either way, please accept this small gift - It should address either explanation. Wear It proudly! Several elements from the August Zcphvr prompted me to write; Moab, Volkswagens, and toothless old men. see Jim, you are not alone. My earliest memories of Moab begin with out of our Texas driveway In our 1966 Volkswagen Campmoblle with Dad and my lumbering brothers. With only eleven hundred miles to go, we would typically allow three full weeks for these annual flips to Moab. Three weeks would be cutting It short First a little perspective on the "bus." It had four options: You Your friends, Air Conditioning 2 Cruise Controls -- Editors note: Thanks for the gift - Just my colors and a perfect flt...totally awesome. - Replacement Driver The air conditioner was a roof mounted unit that dumped cold air on the back seat to effectively adjust the "zone of comfort, my dad Installed duct-wo- rk move a percentage of the chilled air to the driver's compartment This chilled air exited the only. To properly 25a I . IUP IW Mini I. II lM HPII IHINj IllijBjH M IJII aaa |
