I must confess, I’m hesitant to label myself an environmentalist. Environmentalism, for the past 20-odd years at least, seems to me to have been an ideology of removal: remove the steel mills; remove the coal mines, remove the textile factories,…
From a 1988 ‘debate’ in the EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL… INTRODUCTION by DOUG MEYER What does this quarter-century old debate from US environmental history tell us? Very simply, honest environmentalism would have played only one role: that of counter-cultural force to…
Note: since this is an essay it doesn’t have a geographical setting on this, much less any other, planet. In the absence of such a setting the photographs are from one of my backpacking trips to the Superstition Wilderness in…
Sometimes a radical movement ignites a spark of passion that captures the public’s imagination. After awhile powerful people, assuming they have some foresight, come to recognize that in order to protect themselves the group must be granted a bona fide…
Klein, Naomi (2014-09-16). This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition. “[B]ottom line[:] our economic system and our planetary system are now at war. Or, more accurately, our economy is at war with many forms…
“What would be a normal planet would have a lot fewer people and lots more animals, and what we have now is an irregular, abnormal, and dangerous condition.” – Gary Snyder, 2010 In a way this story is painful…
In The Zephyr’s first year of publication, Canyonlands National Park celebrated its 25th anniversary. I interviewed then-Superintendent Harvey Wickware, who gave his assessment of Canyonlands National Park’s first quarter century, and offered his vision of the Park at 50…Last month…
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Zephyr was only in its fourth year of publication when the effects of an already runaway recreation/tourist/amenities industry became a real worry, at least to me. The reality of it was a sobering wake-up call and I…
The numbers are in. Moab is growing. Judging by the sound of circular saws and hammers echoing around town these days commercial and residential construction projects valued at over $19 million are underway. Moab will add 300 hotel rooms…
HERB RINGER came West from his home in New Jersey in 1939. Camera in hand, Herb captured the American West, from the Canadian Border to the Rio Grande and from the Big Sur coast to the High Plains. We…