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Show PAGE 2 THE ZEPHYRMAY 1995 Or an economic issue. It is, instead, a moral issue. Wilderness lands should be set aside Page Two Jim Why wilderness? Read this... "The forests consisted mainly of oaks, ' the finest oaks for height and thickness one could ever see.' Poplars, hickories thrived, and quantities of plum trees were blue with fruit. " Songsparrows , vireos, and warblers filled the brighter edges of the forest, though they shunned the dark interior. Occasionally there was the bright scarlet flash of a tanager in passage. Hawks floated in the sky, soared, swooped, and chased their small prey into the security of thickets and tangled grapevines under the great trees. Now and then a bald eagle soared over. Above the schools offish that packed the river soared the ospreys, plummeting down into its current occasionally to emerge mightily, with a salmon or sturgeon clutched in their talons. " The passage comes from an old book my grandfather gave me years ago authored Bakelcss. The Eyes of Discovery chronicles the North American continent as it John by lay waiting and unsuspecting for the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century. Indians. Even today The description is of an island then inhabited by the Manna-hat-a we call it Manhattan Island. 1 am going to be blunt. If you can read Bakelcss' graphic portrayal of a pristine land that would someday become New York City without any emotion or regret or even a bit of shame, there is something seriously wrong with you. East of the Rocky Mountains, the landscape has been so drastically altered by human intrusion and manipulation, I doubt if any of the original explorers would recognize the place. And we managed to do it in the span of a few short centuries. The only reason any of the North American continent has survived the ravages of our species is because of its inaccessibility or because the land itself was deemed worthless by would be exploiters who saw the land as nothing more than the commodities that could be extracted from it. Barely a century ago, the Deseret News described the lands of southeast Utah as "one vast 'contiguity of waste' and measurably valueless, excepting for nomadic purposes, hunting grounds for Indians, and to hold the world together." One vast contiguity of waste. A lot has changed since 1861. What was once considered worthless desert is now coveted by ranchers, miners, and recrcationists alike. And now we face a decision in our state; we are supposed to decide, once and for all time, what we will save and preserve of our wildlands and what we will open up to the developers and the exploiters. In the last few months, the county governments of southern Utah have made their position clear. Any wilderness designation that conflicts with commercial development is a bad idea. The word itself...'wildemess'...has been politicized, bureaucratized, bastardized. The fact is, wilderness should never have become a political issue in the first place. because it's the right thing to do. Period. We have faced such moral decisions before. More than a century ago, at the same time southern Utah was being described as a wasteland, this country fought a war over the issue of slavery. The south claimed its economy would be devastated by its abolition and for four bloody years fought to maintain that barbaric tradition. Ultimately, the economic concerns had to take a back seat to what was right. In the early 20th century, children were forced to work 18 hours a day in sweat shops for pennies. When child labor laws were enacted, it must have cut into company profit margins something fierce, but it had to be done. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forced businesses to stop discriminating against human beings based on the color of their skin, and businesses closed their doors rather than serve black customers, there was, once again, an economic impact. But again, what was the choice to anyone with a conscience and a sense of morality? In the last five years, a number of studies have been made to determine the effect of wilderness on southern Utah. The Learning Report, released in 1991 suggests a devastating impact on rural Utah counties. Another report claims that the interest generated by wilderness designation will create a whole new economy and will bring the World and tons of money to southern Utah. I would bet the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but the fact is, it doesn't matter. We have to set aside as much of our wild country as we can, because if we did four don't, it will vanish before our eyes as quickly as the island of Manna-hatt- a centuries ago. There is no time left. But how much do we save? Most rural counties don't want to save any, and some county governments have been that blunt about it. Others have identified token parcels of wilderness just to be able to say they made an effort. At many of the county wilderness hearings, opponents of wilderness vociferously fought the designation of lands they had never even seen. ..land they had long ago deemed useless because of its lack of economic value. Yet they still opposed wilderness simply because the "feds" were imposing more rules and regulations and interfering with their lives. And that is what much of the wilderness opposition is about. Years ago in an interview with then county commissioner David Knutson, my always candid friend observed that we pretty much know where alllhe gas and oil and exploitable minerals are. Most of those areas, which constitute 75 of the state's public lands aren't even being considered for wilderness. But what if they were. Does the possibility of making a buck off an acre of land always take precedent over other qualities and values the land might possess? Does its sheer beauty and grandeur mean nothing if we can pump a few barrels of oil from beneath it? There was a time in the history of this state when the exploitation of its mineral wealth was condemned by political and religious leaders. The threat of such exploitation caused Brigham Young to thunder to his people, "Gold is for paving streets. The business of a Saint is to stay home and make his fields green." And Mormon leader Orson F. Whitney echoed Young's sentiments when he proclaimed, "Who wishes to see Deseret, peaceful Deseret, turned into a rollicking mining camp? Not the Latter day Saints!" Among those who oppose and even fear wilderness designation, there is one concern with which I completely share. In a recent letter to the Deseret News, Moab resident Lilly Mac Noorlandcr expressed concern for another threat to the wildlands of southern Utah. Recreational exploitation, in Ms. Noorlander's mind, is as destructive as any cow or miner could ever hope to be. ranches," Noorlandcr observes, "abandoned decades ago by the lonely miner or driller, are now front page fare in the marketing pieces of this lucrative industry. ..Some of the direct consequences of their promotional activities, aside from generating profit from calendars, hiking exposes and membership dues include: more foot trails, bike trails, garbage, human waste, instructional signs, regulations, law enforcement patrols, costs to local government for crowd control, and a general loss of peace and serenity to the plaid clad, waffle stamper crowd. 'The spirit of wilderness," concludes Lilly Mac, "has already been stolen by those who profess to be its savior, but who have, in fact, trampled the life out its essential "Long-forgott- full-col- ZEPHYR I THE ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 (801) 259-7773 publisher & editor Jim Stiles i Write to: The Zephyr, P.O. Box 327, Moab, UT 84532 One year (11 issues)...$15 Two years (22 issues)...$28 i i contributing writers Jane S. Jones Chcrie Glmore Joel Tuhy Mary Grizzard Scott Croene Hank Rutter Dan O' Connor Mike Marooncy historical photos food editor Herb Ringer Willie Flocko ROVING REPORTER Robert Fulghum subscriptions & grounds maintenance Jan Peterson circulation computer whiz-ki- d Brandon Oreno Neils Adair editor Jessica Berry THE ZEPHYR, Copyright 1995, All rights reserved The Zephyr is published monthly (11 times a year) The opinions expresed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times, its publisher or SUBSCRIBE NOW TO THE CANYON COUNTRY i en Three years (33 issues). ..$40 Name Address i i . It's etamjs something. If it isn't it's something dee." Rmniwi RsaeMudjiiM one thing Renewal New Subscription j |