OCR Text |
Show PAGE 30 THE ZEPHYROCTOBER 1991 feedback the readers respond for the reintroduction. Sometimes It la successful, sometimes not Clearly, cultural resources lost In the course of a development are gone forever. Glen Canyon Dam backed up water covering more than 2000 archeological sites. The Information those sites held for us about other cultures Is gone forever. "Doze It over" Is not going to restore the topography. There Is a mlcroclimates-different living mosaic of life In a natural area that Is determined by In the conditions In small areas. These mkrocllmates-a- nd they support-a- re part determined by the variety In the topography. The point la that, with wild lands, once they are disturbed, no one can get them back. When they're gone, they're gone forever. Because I studied ecology back In the days when it was taught In the Biology Department (rather than the Political Science Department). It seemed perfectly logical to me that people generally would understand the biological value of wild lands. Now I see that Ms. Jones Is probably only one of many people who lack the basic understanding. I hope she la receptive to my brief natural history lesson. I would be open to hearing more from her In the Economics Department. pre-existi- Dear Jim This Is sn anonymous letter because, frankly, you and I have never gotten along, and probably never will. Cest la vie. However, I don't want to let a little thing like terminal animosity prevent me from telling you how much I enjoy The Zephyr. Not only is It entertaining In content, thoughtful In provocation, & creative In graphics, I believe it provides the leavening In our literary bread, the gadfly in our ointment. And, along that line, I have a challenge poem for you. The first verse: All Hall The Knutson-Torre- s dynasty, for must be you and me. They good Thoughtful guys For our enjoyment, They keep their relatives off unemployment Mo-diversi- ty Sincerely, Vicki B. Webster Would anyone like to add a second verse? Keep up the good work. Don't let us become complacent, or worse yet, apathetic. Best regards, Woman Moab Anonymous Uh... Thanks? JS. Dear ZEPHYR: Has anyone suggested turning the dump into a recycling center? I'm sure somewhere down the line someone must have said something. It sounds like a sweet Idea to me. Maybe by asking the fed's to match the city and county with funding, such a recycling center could be built. Glass for local fruit and wine, paper to print this and other mags on. Metal to sell or make something (l.e., Pre-fa- b buildings, flat iron, siding, etc., etc., etc.). The aluminum could go to the schools for higher education. The possibilities are countless yet money Is still being sought to bury all that money. Why? We can do It Moab, I know we can. Something should be done. Burying it Isn't IL It can be controlled. It's not Just waste. It can be made to do good. Let me close In saying: One's who take small steps are soon to fall over their own feet" D. Cleaveland Dear Jim: Thank you for Jane Jone's Interview with Scott Groene In the September Zephyr. It was fesdnatlng-a- nd heortenlng-- to see these two people trying to communicate. Open, rational, civil discussion between members of each side of the preservefdevelop debate Is so healthy. For one thing, It shows us where points of misunderstanding lie. This was particularly the case In Ms. Jone's Interview. She actually understands "wilderness" and "natural areas" to be places that can be built by people: "If we think we need more (wild lands), we can Just reclaim, remove the developments, doze It all over, let It go back, restock It, snd we've got all the wild lands that everyone wants." would like Ms. Jones to understand that H Just doesn't work that way. A reclaimed area Is not a natural area. No matter how careful humans are, we cannot bulk! a natural ecosystem back Just the way It once was. Restocking the flora and fauna may or may not go as ws plan. Exotic plants tend to Invade disturbed soil-pla-nts such as Russian thistle, the tumbleweed. Wild life may or may not repopulate a site. Indeed, If we try to reintroduce an extirpated species, we may find there are no members of it remslnlng. As has been the esse with bighorn sheep, s have to be used different sdaptatfons-m- ay subspecies from s different envlronment-wi-th I discovered that one of my favorite activities became Illegal. For trail years friends and have taken our motorcycles to ride portions of the whenever we could get away. Under the best of circumstances this would happen three or four times each summer. Because I know of the possibility of encountering hikers, or horseback riders, I repack my muffler frequently during the season. The trips consisted of two or three riders. In recent years, business duties have all but stopped me from going on these rides, although some of my friends have still found time to enjoy them. I have strong feelings about the value of these trails, and the right to enjoy them. Sometimes I prefer to hike them, but for various reasons I usually get more enjoyment out of a ride. Because of these feelings, I had a desire to do my part to preserve the trails, and on many occasions friends and I would spend a day working to Improve the condition of sections that were deteriorating. The Forest Service has not spent any money on trail maintenance for many years, so I felt that the users should take the responsibility. Sometimes the Forest Service would lend us equipment to use In this maintenance. They were glad to have someone take an Interest Many of the trails that once existed have grown over to the point that they can no longer be found, and that Is a great loss. One of my goals has been to locate and recover many of those lost trails. Now due to the recommendations of a committee representing various user groups, the trails have been designated closed to motorized travel. They cited conflicts between other users (specifically noise), and harmful effects on wildlife as their reasons. Almost all members on the committee were unaware of our use and probably felt that no one would be trail affected by the decision. Also, committee members were told that the was already closed to our use, which was not true. During the original meetings one member never voted In favor of closing any trail, or road. Another was unaware of the ruling, and In his notes taken to the meetings had the trails designated as open to motorized I use. Yet, the Sierra Club claims that the decision to exclude motorcycles was unanimous. LEMA INDIAN TRADING CG. V & quality J Moabs finest selection of authentic Native American Indian Art TWO LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU DOWNTOWN 60 N. MAIN 259-505- 5 GALLERY STORE 860 S. MAIN 259-594- 2 m In March 1991 I 1 Trans-mounta- in Trans-Mounta- in NAVAJO, ZC1NI & HOPI JEWELRY KACHINAS ZGNI FETISHES NAVAJO RUGS ALABASTER CARVINGS SAND PAINTINGS ACOMA & JEMEZ POTTERY PAPAGO BASKETS NAVAJO BASKETS LIMITED EDITION FRAMED PRINTS -- |