Dear HCN,
The problem with George
Wuerthner’s comments in a recent issue (HCN, 3/24/94) is that while
he appears to be correct in his criticism of the extractive
industries, in reality he’s about 10 percent correct and 90 percent
missing the point.
Our choices lie not between
urban subdivisions and traditional grazing. Nobody’s talking about
subdividing public lands. Our choices are between the exploding
boom in recreationalist use and the past abuses of mining, grazing
and timbering. Sure, cows and miners have damaged the fragile
desert landscapes down here in southern Utah, but controlling these
traditional users is now taking a back seat to managing this new
breed of fun-hog.
Come on down and experience
April in Moab, Mr. Wuerthner. Tens of thousands of bikers, hikers,
jeepers, spring-breakers, lycra-clad yuppies, foreign tourists and
other refugees from the urban world are all following the
encouragement of the guidebook authors, Outside and Sierra
magazines, our own travel agents, and even HCN’s recent “welcome”
to El Pinacate. It ain’t pretty.
The hope isn’t
in trying to do away with both subdivisions and cows. The hope is
that we can slow down all of the thundering herds. The cows, the
subdividers and the people. It’s not as he says, “… for every
acre of land paved … there are 10,000 being plowed up, cut up or
pounded to death under the hooves of livestock.” But rather, for
every acre of land pristine, there are 10,000 being bicycled,
jeeped, floated and otherwise stomped on under the hooves of the
human hordes.
Charlie
Peterson
Moab,
Utah
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Slow down all the herds.
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