Re: road closures, redux
Posted by BF Morris on May 18, 2002 at 01:21:31:
In Reply to: road closures, redux posted by curt on May 17, 2002 at 17:57:12:
The problem as I see it is the promulgating of exaggerations by special interest evironmental groups. Criteria of what constitutes "damage" or "destruction" to western lands are now dogma, quoted and requoted as if they were gospel truth. Interestingly, one may simply look at the issue from a historical perspective and discovered how misanthropic eco-science really is. Compare the land to how it looked in the days of the miners crawling over every square inch in the search for gold. And chopping down every tree and shrub within wagon range for timber and fuel for charcoal kilns. Compare the land to when there were big trucks driven all over the deserts in the 20's, 30's and 40's looking for mining potential, scrap iron and performing military trainings.
The re-beautification of the land occurred long before the mankind hating environmentalists began calling themselves saviors and telling us they have all the answers.
"Damage" and "destruction", such as images of a set of jeep tracks across the desert or an ATV trail up a desert wash are truthfully nothing of the kind. In reality, they fall into categories of personal taste; ie an eyesore to some. Now, I'll admit to having similar flaws. My pet peeve concerning popular hiking areas is they tend to have visual and olfactory treats buried, half buried or not buried at all, behind or under almost every rock and bush along the trail.
It appears we have certain power groups insisting that everyone else see things their way. Or else. And they are willing to lie to get their way, as evidenced by the above exaggerations and the recent lynx fur debacle, among others. This in itself is very telling; at first blush one wonders that if their perspective is so correct, why then all the lies and exaggerations. Monkeyshine.
BF Morris