(From the Zephyr archives) UTAH WILDERNESS. DEBATE, part 1: Does Anybody Still Care?…by Jim Stiles

An excerpt:

“More than forty years ago, in a world so different from today as to almost be unrecognizable, Edward Abbey wrote about the need for wilderness and offered this unique suggestion:“The wilderness should be preserved for political reasons. We may need it someday not only as a refuge from excessive industrialism but also as a refuge from authoritarian government, from political oppression. The Grand Canyon…may be required to function as a base for guerilla warfare against tyranny.”Oh the Irony. Almost half a century later, Abbey’s rant sounds more like a passage from a Tea Party Survival Manual; yet, one would be hard pressed to find a Utah Tea Party member willing to support even one acre of congressionally-mandated legislation to designate “wilderness.”
Meanwhile proponents of Utah wilderness have spent the last 20 years urging the passage of a massive “Redrock Wilderness Bill” promising first and foremost that its commercial development and exploitation via a “tourist/amenities” economy will generate untold revenues for the rural West. They say very little these days about solitude, remoteness and the need of a base camp for revolutionary warfare…”

To read more of Jim’s article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2011/10/02/take-it-or-leave-it-by-jim-stiles/