“In the summer of 1987, the economy of Moab and Grand County hit rock bottom. A few years earlier, as uranium prices plummeted, the Atlas Vanadium Processing Mill north of town closed its doors for good. The mill, which had at one time provided hundreds of jobs now lay silent. It seemed as if the mainstay of Grand County’s economy had vanished overnight and Moab was ghost town bound. Unemployment reached 20%. Empty homes and ‘For Sale’ signs were everywhere; at one point as many as one in five homes was on the market. The way the story went: Everybody moved to Elko, where the mining industry was still viable…”
To read more of Jim’s article, click the image below:
What am I gonna do – what about the future?
Gotta draw the line without delay
Why shouldn’t I get emotional – the bush is sacred
Ancient life will fade awayOver the hill they go, killing another mountain
Gotta fill the quota – can’t go slow
Huge machinery wiping out the scenery
One big swipe like a shearer’s blow
Rip rip woodchip – turn it into paper
Throw it in the bin, no news today
Nightmare, dreaming – can’t you hear the screaming?
Chainsaw, eyesore – more decay
Remember the axemen knew their timber
Cared about the way they brought it down
Crosscut, blackbutt, tallowood and cedar
Build another bungalow – pioneer town
I am the bush and I am koala
We are one – go hand in hand
I am the bush like Banjo and Henry
It’s in my blood – gonna make a stand
Rip rip woodchip – turn it into paper
Throw it in the bin, no news today
Nightmare, dreaming – can’t you hear the screaming?
Chainsaw, eyesore – more decay
Rip rip woodchip – turn it into paper
Throw it in the bin – don’t understand
Nightmare, dreaming – can’t you hear the screaming?
“So is there a difference between Democrats and Republicans? Sure. The Democrats say one thing (“Save the planet!”) and then do another–quietly holding hands behind the scenes with the bastards who make this world a dirtier, meaner place. The Republicans just come right out and give the bastards a corner office in the West Wing. That’s the difference.”
“Can the natural world be saved if we are not animals? Or better yet, can the natural world be saved once we utter that damning phrase of segregation: the natural world?”
“I love this nature business as we create a place in our minds and in our reserves that repudiates ourselves. We have so many reasons for this nature business and none of them are honest. Because being honest in these areas invites a messy disorder that this business is about abolishing.”
The critique proposed official wilderness as the epitome of establishment environmentalism, both putting bandaids on fundamental problems of national character and history. Once we’ve saved little bits of the wilderness, we feel better about the horror of industrial civilization. But there’s a still more alluring fiction embedded in the concept. The duality between wilderness and the society that created the wilderness produced the dream among environmentalists of constraining the USA through legal and political means. Ultimate example: the Sierra Club’s effort to persuade the American public to drain Lake Powell, which would have effectively starved the American way of life in the Southwest. Blowing up the dam with a houseboat clearly had a better chance. The voters now view environmentalists as professional liars in the same class as politicians and the media.
To read more of Doug’s article, click the image below:
Widely recognized as one of the best indie papers in the American West, The Zephyr combines humor, history, honesty and artistry in its coverage of environmental issues. With a motto of “Hopelessly clinging to the past since 1989”, the Canyon Country Zephyr is all about Old West meets New West. (greenplanetfilms.org) About the Editor: “Some […]more →
