“Five hundred years down the road, as the conquering Anglos studied the graceful slopes of Nuvatukya’ovi, they perceived nothing sacred. That’s no surprise because the only sacred mountain in the Anglo religious culture, Mount Sinai, cannot be seen or walked upon because nobody knows where it is.

We lost our sacred lands a long time ago.”

To read more of Scott’s story, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/sacredness-and-the-desecration-of-nuvatukyaovi-by-scott-thompson/

“Car companies and makers of sports drinks use wilderness to sell their products. We have to market wilderness as a product people want to have.”

—Michael Carroll

Read more excerpts from the Wilderness Mentoring Conference by clicking the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/when-everything-changed-the-wilderness-mentoring-conference-1998/

Also, check out Jim Stiles’ editorial response to the conference in this issue’s Take it or Leave it: http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/take-it-or-leave-it-15-years-later-thoughts-on-the-wilderness-mentoring-conference-of-1998-by-jim-stiles/

“But in the late ‘90s, something was different and I could never pinpoint the cause—if there was one.  But from where I stood, the “crusade” to save wilderness had gradually become a sales pitch. In Utah, the economic component of wilderness became a prominent, if not the defining reason for passing a wilderness bill. Suddenly, the idea of wilderness and the legislative process to create wilderness diverged. I found myself on the outside, looking into a “movement” that I no longer recognized.  It was never the same for me again and I couldn’t  understand where they (or I) had gone astray.
Jump ahead 15 years and the Miracle of the World Wide Web.”

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

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/take-it-or-leave-it-15-years-later-thoughts-on-the-wilderness-mentoring-conference-of-1998-by-jim-stiles/

Also, check out the companion to this piece, with excerpts from the Wilderness Mentoring Conference here: http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/when-everything-changed-the-wilderness-mentoring-conference-1998/

“But it seems the unfortunate way of the world that each important triumph has necessitated a corresponding sacrifice. The last century has seen ever-progressing human rights and ever-dazzling scientific discovery. Entire philosophies and cosmologies took hold, and were shuttered, and then rose again. Old gods, with their constant demands for judgment and division, fell away, to be replaced by new gods. And then those new gods—analysis, individualism, consumerism—settled in, and began to demand ransoms of their own.”

To read more of Tonya’s story, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/sowing-clover-the-forgotten-charm-of-inefficiency-by-tonya-stiles/

“It’s been well past a year—January 28, 2012—since my dear friend and mentor and kindred spirit, Martin Murie passed away. For almost a quarter century, I often turned to him for support and advice and understanding the way a son looks to his father. We shared an unshakable love for the West and for wild lands everywhere. We understood that the West was more than the sum of its parts, and believed that its survival requires a deeper examination of our own lives and our culture–our ‘civilization’— than most of us are willing to admit.”

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

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/take-it-or-leave-it-i-still-miss-martin-murie-by-jim-stiles/

Before the Aarchway Inn, Holiday Inn Express…etc