As always, thanks Timothy. Your writing rings true and especially needed in these troubled times. We all must protect these lands and yes, for crying out loud enjoy them. Mr. Egan, keep up the good fight and remember the ears when identifying the mule dear. Keep public lands...public...
10
Trump will find a way to impact it. Aerial spraying of Agent Orange, which is why 20% of Vietnam--post our "Adventure" there--is still not arable! Besides, his golf cart, which he generally needs to get around, can't operate there.
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the G-7 attendee on a stroll through the quaint German village, Trampie followed behind in a golf cart. D a computer search!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the G-7 attendee on a stroll through the quaint German village, Trampie followed behind in a golf cart. D a computer search!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
4
Good one Tim! I've got a trick to tell the deer. Mule deer look like mule deer and whitetails look weird. For shooting get steadier get closer.
1
Would NYC natives please stop writing ignorant think peices about what makes 'the west' great?
I don't write Opinion pieces about the best places in NYC, because, and rightly so, any native New Yorker would laugh and point out that I had missed some hidden gem.
There's not a critical mass of commenters from places like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota to write rebukes to every columnist who takes one trip and thinks they have some wonderful insight -- but trust me, most people who actually live in rural 'the west' have at least one spot of untrammeled empty land they go to for solitude.
Claiming that some national park in Montana is "the last best empty place" is ignorant and offensive! Also outright wrong!
I don't write Opinion pieces about the best places in NYC, because, and rightly so, any native New Yorker would laugh and point out that I had missed some hidden gem.
There's not a critical mass of commenters from places like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota to write rebukes to every columnist who takes one trip and thinks they have some wonderful insight -- but trust me, most people who actually live in rural 'the west' have at least one spot of untrammeled empty land they go to for solitude.
Claiming that some national park in Montana is "the last best empty place" is ignorant and offensive! Also outright wrong!
3
I hope like hell that this president's wanton disregard of American wilderness (nothing more American than that) can be stopped.
If it cannot be stopped, we who love these American crown jewels must do something. One thing we could do would be buy at least some of these lands when they are put up for sale. If they are priced so corporations can buy them, a massive citizen nonprofit effort could buy them as well. A mega-GoFundMe-type campaign led by the Sierra Club or some coalition of similar organized entities. A billion dollars could be raised from a mere $100 from 10 million people, a small number really. With leadership gifts from some of our great philanthropists the job would be much easier. Now is the time to start organizing.
If it cannot be stopped, we who love these American crown jewels must do something. One thing we could do would be buy at least some of these lands when they are put up for sale. If they are priced so corporations can buy them, a massive citizen nonprofit effort could buy them as well. A mega-GoFundMe-type campaign led by the Sierra Club or some coalition of similar organized entities. A billion dollars could be raised from a mere $100 from 10 million people, a small number really. With leadership gifts from some of our great philanthropists the job would be much easier. Now is the time to start organizing.
6
This kind of lovely writing is why, years ago, I began following Tim Egan in the Times. He was, first of all, the reporter from the West who wrote about the West, and from my travels I knew first hand that the West was blessed with much of the very best land in America.
Gradually the Times gave him other assignments, like urban stories and politics, and for some time his writing seemed lost. I stuck with him and saw him grow into those roles quite well. But every summer he gets outdoors and I remember why I love to read him. Thank you, Tim, for taking us all outside again, to be hugged and kissed by Mother Nature.
Gradually the Times gave him other assignments, like urban stories and politics, and for some time his writing seemed lost. I stuck with him and saw him grow into those roles quite well. But every summer he gets outdoors and I remember why I love to read him. Thank you, Tim, for taking us all outside again, to be hugged and kissed by Mother Nature.
9
As I just shared Mr. Egan's article with my FB friends and noted . . . . I love Egan's political coverage from month to month but some of my favorite columns like this one, come in the summer when he usually treks (as I do on occasion) to the greater NW including Idaho and Montana. Thanks for reminding us of why we love and need OUR public lands. As another commenter here has noted - I pray "the pen is mightier than the chainsaw" and give thanks for writers such as Egan, Rick Bass and others who remind us of the personal and national value in doing our best to protect these wild places.
We can engage with our own virtual pens such as commenting on currently debated policies that can impact grizzlies in the Yellowstone and Yaak Valleys. I urge fellow readers to checkout the NYT recent opinion piece (07-14-2017) "The Government is Now the Yellowstone Grizzlies Greatest Threat" and join Rick Bass and the Yaak Valley Forest Council (www.yaakvalley.org) to oppose government betrayal of science and conservation biology in the two million acre Kootenai National Forest, on the Montana-Idaho border. where authorization of a thru-hiker trail that would cleave the heart of public land previously dedicated to the conservation of the last twenty grizzly bears in the Yaak Valley.
We love our wild places - we want them to stay wild.
We can engage with our own virtual pens such as commenting on currently debated policies that can impact grizzlies in the Yellowstone and Yaak Valleys. I urge fellow readers to checkout the NYT recent opinion piece (07-14-2017) "The Government is Now the Yellowstone Grizzlies Greatest Threat" and join Rick Bass and the Yaak Valley Forest Council (www.yaakvalley.org) to oppose government betrayal of science and conservation biology in the two million acre Kootenai National Forest, on the Montana-Idaho border. where authorization of a thru-hiker trail that would cleave the heart of public land previously dedicated to the conservation of the last twenty grizzly bears in the Yaak Valley.
We love our wild places - we want them to stay wild.
7
Thanks for giving voice to the Kootenai and other public lands in the west and across America. All who value these gifts must be vigilant and ready to step up to preserve and protect, while the greedy posers in the executive branch manage their money piles and try to sell off our children's true environmental foundations and heritage.
10
Thank you for this. Troy has always had something of a legendary quality for my family. My father was born there, and as a young man fought fires in the Kootenai forest. My great grandfather surveyed the area and named a mountain for himself, which I was just barely able to pick out looking across a broad valley on a visit. It's a place worth sharing with every American, and worth fighting for if anyone tries to steal it for their own greedy purposes.
5
As fine an essay on the monstrously magnificent Montana wilds and our solemn obligation to hand that magnificence to our children as long as love and decency survive. I lived amid that beauty for six years. Mr. Eagan could not be more accurate or prophetic. If you think these lands deserve despoiling, never utter the words God bless America.
5
time for Hayduke to reappear!
1
Our president was born and raised in Queens, a borough of the City of New York and his greatest ambition in life was to out-do his father and become Manhattan's greatest real estate developer. The jury is still out in that one, by the way.
Here's a guy who doesn't read and doesn't travel, unless he's going to one of his resorts or golf travels. I very much doubt if Donald has ever spent a night in a three star hotel, much less in a tent or under the stars in a bivvy bag. No fishing, hunting or hiking. Just pumping his ratings and getting his name in the paper.
Good luck in getting him to save the wilderness. He probably thinks that's on Staten Island.
Here's a guy who doesn't read and doesn't travel, unless he's going to one of his resorts or golf travels. I very much doubt if Donald has ever spent a night in a three star hotel, much less in a tent or under the stars in a bivvy bag. No fishing, hunting or hiking. Just pumping his ratings and getting his name in the paper.
Good luck in getting him to save the wilderness. He probably thinks that's on Staten Island.
5
Great piece Timothy! I could not have said it better myself! For those that never get out into our National (Parks) Treasures perhaps, this may be a motivator. Nothing like 'em and we need to keep 'em all that way toady and for our future generations!!!!
2
For a president whose worldview is singularly transactional, public lands, rivers, forests, prairies, mountains, and meadows, wetlands and beaches, "undeveloped", and unsold are anathema. Not to mention the vast and unstudied ecosystems filled with plants and animals we have yet to even catalog. Our small-minded and self-absorbed little president could no more comprehend these wonders than he could sprout wings and fly. If we all don't fight these rapacious traitors of TR's legacy to the last square inch of soil, we do not deserve to keep them safe.
5
As a NYC fly fisherman Montana looms large in my dreams but I'm constantly searching out nearby public lands ...Lasdon Park in Westchester is a hidden gem...
1
Tim, as lovely as they are, we really must quit writing articles about the few beautiful places left in this nation, because no sooner than you do a hoard of off shore buyers show up looking for a fast track to citizenship by buying up our property; no better exemplified than the press coverage given to Portland Oregon a few years ago, the result was that it went from being among the best places in the world to live according to numerous publications to being what it is today, another playground for rich Chinese and Middle Easterners that has become unaffordable to those who grew up here. B.T.W. Portland is no longer on any list of great places to live as it has become yet another symbol of all that has gone wrong with our nation, teeming with homeless men and women as the Chinese continue to acquire luxury condos built in neighborhoods that formerly had housing for working class Portlanders whose jobs in manufacturing were sent to Asia and the boulevards of Portland become the parade ground for Middle Easterners cruising in their Range Rovers and Ferraris, waiting out the war in luxury buildings as we enter the sixteenth year of fighting and paying for wars for them: The Saudis, Israel and big oil. Special interests rule our nation and with Kushner and Trump around it can only get worse. Instead of draining the swamp we filled it with more of the same, Goldman Sachs slime and a right wing pro Likud supporter in our new Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. We never learn!
6
WHEN was it clear cut? Who authorized it? Before it was a national forest? A century ago? 10 years ago? Isn't that important info? Nice to know it's "on the mend" now.
5
Reading this as I return from a fly fishing trip that included Rock Creek in the Uinta Mountains, Ashley National Forest in Utah.
So, all I can add is "amen."
So, all I can add is "amen."
1
I didn't grow up in Kootenai National Forest, or anything close, but I did spend most of my childhood years in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. For a kid fro the street of the South Bronx it was a wonderful wooded adventure. In 1954 Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Lake George and later the rebuilding of Fort William Henry, those places were the woods. I lived in a pine filled forest that was beautifully green in summer and wonderfully white in winter. Summers were brief and winter was deep, cold and lingered. The best part was that compared to New York City it wasn't crowded. There were no rushing crowds trying to fit into a train car or walking at Times Square and trying to find a parking space anywhere close to home. There was emptiness, quiet, and wildlife. Lots of it. Camping outdoors was wonderful for an 8 year old kid. I remember taking rides and camping at Crown Point at Lake Champlain. Fort Ticonderoga was nothing more than a village. We'd go horse back riding from a small ranch in West Glens Falls. For $2 we could ride all day and all we had to do was water the horses to keep them fresh.
I wish the last empty place in America was nearby and truly empty. I miss the woods. I miss the smell and the sounds. I miss the wind rustling through the leaves. I mss the change of seasons. I think I would have made a good settler or pioneer.
New York City is my first home. But the deep pine woods of upstate is where my heart goes.
I wish the last empty place in America was nearby and truly empty. I miss the woods. I miss the smell and the sounds. I miss the wind rustling through the leaves. I mss the change of seasons. I think I would have made a good settler or pioneer.
New York City is my first home. But the deep pine woods of upstate is where my heart goes.
10
Proud to be a Public Land Owner. Thanks for reminder of why.
7
Thank you, thank you, Mr. Egan! One of the awesome things about the United States is the land preserved for our personal use, and for those visitors who comes here and marvel at the wildness.
I wonder if the Current Occupant has ever been camping?
I wonder if the Current Occupant has ever been camping?
6
I have camped in a tent when it was snowing, slept in the back of an open pickup truck and on gravel beaches; fished creeks in the Ozarks and lakes in Montana, hiked in national forests all over the west. I've eaten probably hundreds of iron skillet meals from over campfires and shivered from the glow of eyes in the dark, and I love, love, love the memories of every single time, more than every fancy hotel in any big city I ever visited, including Paris. Anybody who never has ever experienced the magic of these outdoor adventures could possibly understand how alive and wondrous these forests and mountains can be. I don't believe one can live without them. It would be tragic to lose them to greedy spoilers.
21
I grew up in North Idaho with a father who was a college professor and a passion for driving his family all over the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada in the summer months. It was the greatest childhood a young man could ever hope for. The old man even added an additional gas tank to the "hippie wagon" as we fondly called it so we could venture into places some people could only dream of. It was spectacular.
Right now I'm reading the wonderful Doris Kearns book on Roosevelt and Taft entitled The Bully Pulpit and it brought tears to my eyes when I read about Roosevelt's months long train excursion to places like the Redwoods and Grand Canyon and what he had to say about these natural cathedrals.
Our planet is such a beautiful place and as much as I enjoy traveling to Europe and Asia my heart will always be those gorgeous national parks and wide open places here back home. Idaho is over 40% wilderness area and I hope it always stays that way.
Mr. Roosevelt your deep love if our national lands is one of the best things to ever happen to this country. God bless you sir.
Right now I'm reading the wonderful Doris Kearns book on Roosevelt and Taft entitled The Bully Pulpit and it brought tears to my eyes when I read about Roosevelt's months long train excursion to places like the Redwoods and Grand Canyon and what he had to say about these natural cathedrals.
Our planet is such a beautiful place and as much as I enjoy traveling to Europe and Asia my heart will always be those gorgeous national parks and wide open places here back home. Idaho is over 40% wilderness area and I hope it always stays that way.
Mr. Roosevelt your deep love if our national lands is one of the best things to ever happen to this country. God bless you sir.
19
Thank you, Mr. Egan. As a reader of every book you have written, and one who looks forward to your columns here, I can say with great enthusiasm that our country benefits from your sensitive insights about the West. Keep up the great work.
10
Well done, Tim.
9
As an Oregonian I know exactly what you mean. When I visit states back East I'm always glad to come home to our forests. I feel sad for those who don't have our same opportunities to be able to visit nature whenever we want.
4
Don't underestimate the existence, or importance of Eastern US wild lands, from the wilds of Maine, to rural areas of New Hampshire, Vermont, upstate New York, western Virginia, Carolinas etc.
I currently live near you, and am often surprised to hear westerners who think the east is only one big megalopolis.
I currently live near you, and am often surprised to hear westerners who think the east is only one big megalopolis.
14
The parks are my hope, if I ever get out of here!
7
This is one area where rural republicans and coastal democrats have common cause. Some want to hunt and fish while others want to hike and photograph but you need wild open spaces to do either. It's the money grubbing republicans, led by the money grubber in chief who don't value wilderness and see in it only another chance to make a buck. In Alaska, a Texan wanted to have a coal mine that would destroy a salmon stream. He gave up because every person in Alaska loves salmon streams.
10
If the greenery under his feet isn't mowed, manicured, watered, and fertilized, our sad White House occupant is a true babe in the woods.
8
It it is a very beautiful place. Peaceful and so pleasant as is a lot of the wilderness in the Intermountain west. We must protect it, keep it special, be gentle with it but forcefully defend it when enemies try to attack. These treasured places are not parks; they are just special places to enjoy and share, wonder and peace to inhale. Go there but always be gentle and protect them.
5
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn"
- John Muir
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn"
- John Muir
8
Saving and creating public land, such as National Parks, in America? Saving private land for that matter or any land anywhere on earth?
I do not see current human political systems as able to save land or humans for that matter. From my reading of history, it appears to me the primary method of human salvation, the tried and true which should be evident to almost any human, on earth and in a universe which is arguably more evil than good (which is why we hope in religion, a good beyond travails of existence), is that of concentration on and location of exceptional discoverers, creators, explorers in human life-- because from them come the artistic, scientific, technological, life saving accomplishments.
But take politics in the U.S. alone: We are FIRST asked to respect the Constitution, NOT the fact of exceptional humans being our method of salvation, and this has opened up to our detriment the Constitution being interpreted by the right wing as defense of religion, defense of weapons, defense of rampant business interest, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and on the left as socialism--in short, both political parties in the U.S. and the Constitution itself appear to be quite closed systems not doing justice to the salient lesson from human history that our salvation on the stark mountain trail of life is in our pathfinders, discoverers, creators, explorers and that without this at forefront of knowledge even the best political system, life and land, will fail.
I do not see current human political systems as able to save land or humans for that matter. From my reading of history, it appears to me the primary method of human salvation, the tried and true which should be evident to almost any human, on earth and in a universe which is arguably more evil than good (which is why we hope in religion, a good beyond travails of existence), is that of concentration on and location of exceptional discoverers, creators, explorers in human life-- because from them come the artistic, scientific, technological, life saving accomplishments.
But take politics in the U.S. alone: We are FIRST asked to respect the Constitution, NOT the fact of exceptional humans being our method of salvation, and this has opened up to our detriment the Constitution being interpreted by the right wing as defense of religion, defense of weapons, defense of rampant business interest, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and on the left as socialism--in short, both political parties in the U.S. and the Constitution itself appear to be quite closed systems not doing justice to the salient lesson from human history that our salvation on the stark mountain trail of life is in our pathfinders, discoverers, creators, explorers and that without this at forefront of knowledge even the best political system, life and land, will fail.
Thanks for the superb piece. I'm so glad to see the plight of such a place as the Kootenai addressed.
To get a sense of what was already lost when the Kootenai & other forests in the public trust were before they were tragically logged, it might be helpful to post some photos of the former Old Growth Forests.
There's a famous grove of giant cedars in the Kootenai:
http://www.libbymt.com/areaattractions/rosscreekcedars.htm
I recall a powerful piece long back in what was then the Amicus Journal of the NRDC, a riveting expose about the Bitterroot by someone who dwelled there, describing the virgin forests facing logging. Wish I could find the article.
At that time, it was not hard to latch on to the moving train of the Timber Wars, and follow the incredible fight that citizens were putting up against the exploitative logging industry and the federal government auctioning off the last of the Old Growth Forest left on Forest Service Lands.
Mr. Egan raises a matter of profound importance to this moment, horrible devastation of the land has been done in the name of business, and if Pruitt & Trump have their way, it will be a wholesale renewal of the industrial war on Nature.
I would offer only my humble view that these places & their natural inhabitants are not just there for 'our' enjoyment, nor our grandchildren's, nor are they 'owned'. These places & their trees have rights, the right to exist, the right to be wild, the right to life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness.
To get a sense of what was already lost when the Kootenai & other forests in the public trust were before they were tragically logged, it might be helpful to post some photos of the former Old Growth Forests.
There's a famous grove of giant cedars in the Kootenai:
http://www.libbymt.com/areaattractions/rosscreekcedars.htm
I recall a powerful piece long back in what was then the Amicus Journal of the NRDC, a riveting expose about the Bitterroot by someone who dwelled there, describing the virgin forests facing logging. Wish I could find the article.
At that time, it was not hard to latch on to the moving train of the Timber Wars, and follow the incredible fight that citizens were putting up against the exploitative logging industry and the federal government auctioning off the last of the Old Growth Forest left on Forest Service Lands.
Mr. Egan raises a matter of profound importance to this moment, horrible devastation of the land has been done in the name of business, and if Pruitt & Trump have their way, it will be a wholesale renewal of the industrial war on Nature.
I would offer only my humble view that these places & their natural inhabitants are not just there for 'our' enjoyment, nor our grandchildren's, nor are they 'owned'. These places & their trees have rights, the right to exist, the right to be wild, the right to life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness.
8
Exquisite....
I do hope you're not just preaching to the choir and that those who know the cost of everything and the value of precious little are paying attention.
Ave...
I do hope you're not just preaching to the choir and that those who know the cost of everything and the value of precious little are paying attention.
Ave...
4
Exquisite, in spades!
Thank you.
Thank you.
Tim - You captured the essence of this wonderful place in one column. We appreciate your voice in the wilderness.
7
Fond memories come flooding back as I think if the time in the distant 70s when I went to school in northern Idaho not far from Troy and the Yaak in Montana. Quaint and rustic lumber towns named Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford with none of the ostentatious pretenses of their more famous namesakes dotted dirt roads in northern Idaho. There was another Troy in Idaho noted for its lumberjack burgers and the best home fries! Have been back many times but some of the pristine beauty has been ravaged by development. It is good the current real estate developer occupant of the White House has skipped visiting. His enterprising family will sell it to rich overseas investors with resident visas to boot! And, he may scare the trout and salmon away! We need our wilderness to remind us of the wild men who inhabit the WH.
3
Great article. #keepitpublic
4
Love this story, but while this sounds idyllic, it's not THE last best empty place. I know where there is, and I'm not telling!
4
Why go there and torture/murder the wildlife? That's what fishing is.
2
Thank you. Nuff said.
I find it ironic that "The Last Best Empty Place in America"is today so threatened by "The last worst empty place in America," namely, the space between the ears of our money-lusting President of the Electoral College of the United States of America.
7
Excellent reporting about the need to preserve the wilderness, predators as we humans have proven to be in the past...and in the near future if we allow 'our' ignoramus in chief to get his spitefully destructive way. How is it possible that republicans, supposedly conservationist, can get comfortable trying to sell 'our' land to the highest bidder?
4
Please Mr President, Keep this park as it is, pristine and enduring.
4
"The enemy of this last best place" is, more specifically, Donald Trump's Department of the Interior, and every other Trump appointee that can pick away at our public lands.
9
Amen, Tim. Nature will have the last word if we do not uphold our end of the bargain.
Trump doesn't understand inner beauty and peace. He doesn't understand anything beyond extravagant and junky decor and golf courses that go on for miles.
He wouldn't last 5 minutes in a forest or any public land. There's no one to wait on him or applaud his 5 year old nonsense.
He won't win this battle.
Trump doesn't understand inner beauty and peace. He doesn't understand anything beyond extravagant and junky decor and golf courses that go on for miles.
He wouldn't last 5 minutes in a forest or any public land. There's no one to wait on him or applaud his 5 year old nonsense.
He won't win this battle.
8
Two words...DUMP TRUMP Actually that should be three words...DUMP THE GOP
8
I am a Montanan and i am watching out my window as the "pristine" forest is burning in 3 directions. The pendulum swinging from over logging to litigated no logging has been disastrous for our Montana environment. Simplistic finger pointing has enabled idiots like Trump/Zinke on one side and trust fund lawyers hiding behind "environmental" organizations on the other side to paralyze the science based-and not EMOTIONALLY based-decision making regarding forest health. I am sure the author meant well, but unless facts are used and not fear and bias, our forests remain in trouble.
1
Well, if you he could putter around in a golf cart at Kootenai, Mr. Trump might go. Otherwise, I wouldn't count on it.
3
Scattered among us are two faced thieves of nature. Greedy, evil resource poachers.
7
Here here Rick Bass! We are our own worst enemy and our own savior.
We need more of these gorgeous, wild places in the US/the world. They are as essential to our souls as the eco-systems they provide and the wild life that inhabit them, not to mention the world's climate and ocean health.
I was lucky enough to have grown up in a time when I could walk down a cart road behind our house to four acres of woodland and play for hours. The forest sounds were music to my ears. It was magical and safe. No, not a wild forest like Yellow Stone or John Muir Woods, but magical and free enough.
Progress as far as building more homes or businesses, and breaking up habitats along the way, is not the "end all be all" of economic growth.
Let's use or replace what we have, not build into or encroach upon the wild places we have left. The cost far out weighs the benefits in my eyes.
People have to let go of the glow of dollar signs in their eyes and remember that what they really want are truly wild places like this one.
We need more of these gorgeous, wild places in the US/the world. They are as essential to our souls as the eco-systems they provide and the wild life that inhabit them, not to mention the world's climate and ocean health.
I was lucky enough to have grown up in a time when I could walk down a cart road behind our house to four acres of woodland and play for hours. The forest sounds were music to my ears. It was magical and safe. No, not a wild forest like Yellow Stone or John Muir Woods, but magical and free enough.
Progress as far as building more homes or businesses, and breaking up habitats along the way, is not the "end all be all" of economic growth.
Let's use or replace what we have, not build into or encroach upon the wild places we have left. The cost far out weighs the benefits in my eyes.
People have to let go of the glow of dollar signs in their eyes and remember that what they really want are truly wild places like this one.
4
I always thought this about Rush Limbaugh, and then about Donald Trump, a pair of right-wing blowhards who ceaselessly mock "environmentalist wackos" and global warming, to the amusement of their braying fans.
To these men, "nature" means a expensive private golf course. It's literally the only place where they'll spend a few hours outdoors. Manicured greens, golf carts, caddies, barbered roughs and treelines, and of course, the fancy clubhouse at the end and the "19th hole" bar and grill, where they can drink and tell tall tales over steaks with the guys, and the obsequious staff all know just what they like.
So of course they don't care about wild nature, or in Trump's case, even about a rustic retreat like Camp David, which he described to a French journalist as a great place to be for 30 minutes.
To these men, "nature" means a expensive private golf course. It's literally the only place where they'll spend a few hours outdoors. Manicured greens, golf carts, caddies, barbered roughs and treelines, and of course, the fancy clubhouse at the end and the "19th hole" bar and grill, where they can drink and tell tall tales over steaks with the guys, and the obsequious staff all know just what they like.
So of course they don't care about wild nature, or in Trump's case, even about a rustic retreat like Camp David, which he described to a French journalist as a great place to be for 30 minutes.
12
Public Lands are America's greatest idea. Get out there, float it's rivers, look into the waters, stand in the waters and listen to the sounds of water moving, disappear into the nature surrounding you. It's medicine for the soul, inspiration for the mind something worth protecting for ever. With #45 and his regime's attack on our commons and our national heritage we've come to that moment of truth....will we acquiesce and let the robber barons run amok or will we stand up and resist?
Something near 2.7 Million citizen comments have been sent to Secretary Zinke and his Department of Interior at Gov.org voicing our Love and regard for Public Lands and National Monuments. We're appalled that he ( Zinke and #45) would even consider removing and downsizing these 27 Monuments but that's what is on the top of these robber barron's minds, their top priority. This is evidence enough of a lack of understanding that in their Evangelical Zeal they lack the basic truth that their God put them here to be stewards of The Creation and not the destroyers of it. We've been entrusted with The kingdom, it's time that we demonstrate our zeal in protecting these wild places for all those that may, in the future, discover themselves while standing within or near it's sacred wild places. Resist!
Something near 2.7 Million citizen comments have been sent to Secretary Zinke and his Department of Interior at Gov.org voicing our Love and regard for Public Lands and National Monuments. We're appalled that he ( Zinke and #45) would even consider removing and downsizing these 27 Monuments but that's what is on the top of these robber barron's minds, their top priority. This is evidence enough of a lack of understanding that in their Evangelical Zeal they lack the basic truth that their God put them here to be stewards of The Creation and not the destroyers of it. We've been entrusted with The kingdom, it's time that we demonstrate our zeal in protecting these wild places for all those that may, in the future, discover themselves while standing within or near it's sacred wild places. Resist!
8
it is amazing that for all we know of the universe, and we know a lot, a crackpot with a comb over gets to make decisions affecting millions of people he has neither met, wants to meet, or go to their homes. An army of one is a dangerous thing. Three million people can't be wrong. Organize, throw the bum out and keep this oasis in space the home it is for all of us before we extinguish life on the planet.
8
The destruction of another amazingly beautiful and pristine rural area is about to take place here in Virginia. Dominion Energy plans to put a massive natural gas pipeline through the state, and that pipeline will pass over, across and through the Appalachian Trail (among other mountainous regions) as it takes gas from West Virginia to North Carolina. Do you think Gov. McAuliffe or any other state politicians have stood up to Dominion in support of landowner rights, clean water concerns, endangered species or any of the other key issues? This pipeline is going to run up and down ridiculously steep slopes, across land known for underground caves and hidden springs, through valleys where there are visible sinkholes, and under two of the cleanest rivers in the state. Our governor calls himself an environmentalist, but that is simply not true. If you want the whole story, please go to pipelineupdate.org for facts about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the deception that Dominion and Virginia's politicians have created to get it approved.
8
But to these greedy capitalists, "corporations are people my friends," so why should anything but their desire for money be subjugated to all the other points you make?
In 1953 I hitched a ride with a logging truck along the Kootenai River. I had just finished by freshman year at Purdue's school of forestry and was on my way to the Sylvanite Ranger Station along the west side of the Yaak River 40 miles from Troy for a summer job with the U.S. Forest Service I was dropped off in Troy and spent the night in a two dollar hotel with a single bathroom down the hall. I reported to the Troy Ranger Station the next morning and caught a ride on a truck of bailed hay to Sylvanite Ranger Station where my first job was to unload the hay bails. What a summer adventure for an 18 year old kid from Indiana.
8
Is your name Norman Maclean?
Thanks for the wonderful anecdote!
Thanks for the wonderful anecdote!
1
Just finished a day-long hike through the mountains of Denali National Park. A group had formed up as we made our way through dense willow thickets, the kind where you're supposed to make noise so you don't surprise a grizzly. I started singing This Land is Your Land, and soon eight people who hadn't known each other at the trailhead were celebrating a bond as common owners of this beautiful place, which is celebrating its centennial as a national park. Highlight of a trip that's been full of them since day one.
11
Thank you, Mr. Egan. Right on target, as always.
11
Large populations push into forested areas to mine minerals and cultivate crops, unintentionally destroying the ecosystem.
Most of the refugees who are fleeing to our country have many children. War broke out in their countries when their the populations overgrew their supplies of land, water, and other natural resources. Look at Syria where most couples have a minimum of 7 to 8 children. Syria has been experiencing a multi-year drought. Food became scarce, and so, war broke out.
The problem is that too many of the refugees do not seem to realize that it was their country’s overpopulation that led to violence. So they continue to have many children after moving here.
Most of the refugees who are fleeing to our country have many children. War broke out in their countries when their the populations overgrew their supplies of land, water, and other natural resources. Look at Syria where most couples have a minimum of 7 to 8 children. Syria has been experiencing a multi-year drought. Food became scarce, and so, war broke out.
The problem is that too many of the refugees do not seem to realize that it was their country’s overpopulation that led to violence. So they continue to have many children after moving here.
2
The natural course of things is that populations fluctuate widely over time, growing until they exceed the carrying capacity of their environment and then crashing, only to grow again. Religions see this as the Hand of God rather than as a process that needs to be controlled.
Put too many rats into an experimental environment, and they cut down on their breeding, all by themselves. The same tendency in humans is evidenced in Europe and Japan, and is condemned by most religions. We could work to understand this tendency and help its operation along, but instead we fight it.
The crash is coming, and it will be a big one; because of modern transportation abilities, it will tend towards the worldwide. If we are lucky it will happen through disease rather than famine or genocides.
Put too many rats into an experimental environment, and they cut down on their breeding, all by themselves. The same tendency in humans is evidenced in Europe and Japan, and is condemned by most religions. We could work to understand this tendency and help its operation along, but instead we fight it.
The crash is coming, and it will be a big one; because of modern transportation abilities, it will tend towards the worldwide. If we are lucky it will happen through disease rather than famine or genocides.
How very idiotic. How many children did you have? When you visit a national forest or park, how do you treat it?
Honestly, if you want zero population growth then have the number of children you want but don't presume to tell others what they should have or judge them.
In our history here most families had many children to help work the land, to offset the mortality rates brought on by many things. Perhaps that is also true in other parts of the world given what their economic situations are compared to ours.
Honestly, if you want zero population growth then have the number of children you want but don't presume to tell others what they should have or judge them.
In our history here most families had many children to help work the land, to offset the mortality rates brought on by many things. Perhaps that is also true in other parts of the world given what their economic situations are compared to ours.
1
You forgot to mention WAR which is an historic means of population control. (not recommended, anymore than genocide is) The problem is that most diseases can be cured now days. (Ebola) The great epidemics of the past did serve a practical purpose, to be blunt. Famine and natural disasters like earthquakes did the same. In the absence of natural phenomenon--contraception, abortion and cultural training are a must.
1
Trump will BK the USA as he has done with his money losing businesses and then argue that the public lands must be sold-to him and his cronies- in order to get out of BK.
You are watching him destroy healthcare in favor of wealthcare; do you really need to see this happen again?
Impeach him. And NO he cannot pardon himself for trying to create the United States of Russia.
You are watching him destroy healthcare in favor of wealthcare; do you really need to see this happen again?
Impeach him. And NO he cannot pardon himself for trying to create the United States of Russia.
7
We need more pieces like this. The right wing nuts are determined to ruin our public lands, along with a lot of other things.
6
I keep seeing the argument that "it is public land, therefore anyone can do whatever they want with it", or more particularly," I can do what I want with it, and you shouldn't be able to stop me".
Here's the problem: The intensive care unit at your public hospital is "public property", but if you are in there being treated you don't want someone sauntering in, setting up their TV and sucking back a few brews while watching the ball game.
There are good reasons that various tracts of public land have been set aside and protected from commercial and industrial development, and the fact that they are public property doesn't mean that they are open to exploitation by the highest bidder, or the person with the closest ties to the government of the day.
By the way, this also includes public lands that have been leased for cattle grazing. It ain't just tree huggers who have an interest.
Here's the problem: The intensive care unit at your public hospital is "public property", but if you are in there being treated you don't want someone sauntering in, setting up their TV and sucking back a few brews while watching the ball game.
There are good reasons that various tracts of public land have been set aside and protected from commercial and industrial development, and the fact that they are public property doesn't mean that they are open to exploitation by the highest bidder, or the person with the closest ties to the government of the day.
By the way, this also includes public lands that have been leased for cattle grazing. It ain't just tree huggers who have an interest.
12
I'm with you Tim. There is nothing like the unadulterated wilderness. Unfortunately, t-rump, his fool Zinke the dirty sink, will take this all away and mine it, log it, and frack it. It will never return to being pristine again. These lands are for you and me but not for business. Period.
7
Thank you Mr. Egan. With so much going on in Washington, often the public lands are the last thing on people's minds. But they are really at the foundation of the history of the Western part of this country. They are irreplaceable—once lost, they'll be lost forever.
The GOP is hell-bent on taking these away. Witness the "review" of 27 national monuments and more marine sanctuaries being undertaken now by the Interior and Commerce departments.
People need to speak up, and LOUDLY!
The GOP is hell-bent on taking these away. Witness the "review" of 27 national monuments and more marine sanctuaries being undertaken now by the Interior and Commerce departments.
People need to speak up, and LOUDLY!
7
Time to start reforestation on urban golf courses, especially in Florida.
16
If couch potatoes like me want just a taste of the Yaak River Valley, wander around the cable stations until you find a program named "Mountain Men", which includes 3-4 stories in each episode about mountain men in various parts of the U.S. One of those lives in the Yaak River Valley. Their stories are all unique and you are treated to a taste of living off the grid and with the land. Their lives are difficult, but I'm envious.
2
Amazing that the last best empty place in America is only a scant 18 miles from the town best known as a $30B asbestos fund and Superfund site, Libby, Montana. America is a true land of contrasts.
7
If only the incurious bloat befouling the White House could spend a couple of nights camped out with John Muir the way Teddy did. Maybe some sense of the grandeur of Universe outside his mind might seep in and some perspective might be developed that could change his direction.
Keep up the good fight, Timothy. You are a treasure.
Keep up the good fight, Timothy. You are a treasure.
6
there are other empty places. but if we say where they are, they won't stay empty.
5
Took Amtrak from San Francisco to Seattle in hopes of seeing our wild and verdant mountains. My one lasting memory of this trip was the mountainous swaths of clear-cutting. Nothing was left as Mother Nature intended. So very sad.
7
you went by the lagoons and through forty miles of national and state forest in california. it was in oregon you saw the clearcuts. thanks, mark hatfield.
3
I remember crossing from CA into Oregon 27 years ago; clear cutting was already happening due to paper companies wanting the trees for paper production. CA didn't allow it; Oregon did.
Thank you, Mr. Egan. As a veteran hiker in lots of National Parks I appreciate this column. This land belongs to each and every American and let's fight to keep it that way.
13
Most people assume Trump wants to de-list national monuments and sell off other nationally owned lands as a big favor to the extraction industries. My own belief is that, along with that wretched motive, he also wants to sell some of the really great places to cronies/would-be cronies for development as private resorts. Even GW Bush once thought a golf course would be a grand addition to Glacier National Park. How about a golf course in the Grand Canyon monument -- along with a luxury lodge overlooking the canyon and all priced for the 1%? With a private airport? What could be more MAGA than that?
24
27 years ago, I had the great good fortune to climb The Grand Teton with Exum guide Jack Turner, who has written extensively on wilderness - as an intrinsic, absolute Good Thing to which thoughtful people are drawn (The Abstract Wild is one of his books). We talked into the night about it, around our camp in the saddle between the Middle Teton and The Grand, before our final alpine push.
Jack climbed that peak a few times per week - for me it was a life's highlight and a memory well-etched. As he writes elsewhere: "what we see influences what we think. Those who spend time on summits [or in wilderness] often disagree with those whose vision reflects more limited perspectives."
I hope he's still climbing, expanding lucky people's vision. I am forever in his debt. Thanks for this eloquent reminder, Tim!
Jack climbed that peak a few times per week - for me it was a life's highlight and a memory well-etched. As he writes elsewhere: "what we see influences what we think. Those who spend time on summits [or in wilderness] often disagree with those whose vision reflects more limited perspectives."
I hope he's still climbing, expanding lucky people's vision. I am forever in his debt. Thanks for this eloquent reminder, Tim!
11
Thank you, Mr Egan. I grew up on the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico and have hiked miles of that and many other national forests from coast to coast (White Mountains NF in New England, Nicolet NF in Wisconsin, PIsgah in North Carolina, etc.) While there are deficiencies in forest management practices, these great American places remain to illuminate our pioneer past, kindle our imaginations, and restore our peace of mind. I wish every city kid could spend a month finding herself/himself in one of these natural classrooms that build confidence and self-esteem by surviving challenges one can meet head-on--like being afraid of the dark, facing new situations, sorting through options when unsure of which path is best. Unlike the risks offered by confrontations with street gangs and the escapist drug culture, there are healthy choices in the woods. I hope all our citizens will unite to save our heritage forests and prairies from destruction based on short-term profits. These are the people's lands--not the corporations' lands.
12
Federal lands designated as wilderness, wildlife refuge, national forest, etc. need protection under a new US Constitutional amendment, such that once designated, such designation cannot be undone by the Congress. Some states such as NY, already have such language in their state constitutions and it has worked well to protect lands and waters for future generations
18
Yes, Trump says he wants to take this land and "return it to the American people." It already belongs to all of us.
10
As a longtime user of the federally protected lands in the West, particularly in Colorado, I hate to see any inroads made to the National Forests and other lands by mining, timber, and other natural resource users. They are robbing us of our national treasure, and I hope that Zinke will come out on the protectionist side, but I am not hopeful while Trump is in office.
11
Twice a year, we drive from Colorado to visit our children and grandchildren in British Columbia. The beauty and solitude of the Kootenai National Forest has become our favorite lingering place. We always visit the Ross Creek Giant Cedars... a 400 year old cedar grove, spared early in the 20th century by loggers, themselves. They recognized the special beauty and magnificence of trees that predate Columbus. If only others would recognize the importance of saving our natural inheritance!
21
How many conservative Westerners/outdoors people/mountaineers take the GOP bait on protecting second amendment rights and vote against their own interests?
How many anti-government but rugged hikers take the bait and vote GOP for lower taxes, less "waste", and reform but are actually cutting funding for the Interior Department and protections on the lands they love?
How many red staters who make a living off the environment and want to have their natural lands voted Trump to stick it to Obama and Clinton?
Maybe the sequels to "Whats The Matter With Kansas?" could be "Whats The Matter with Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, etc."
How many anti-government but rugged hikers take the bait and vote GOP for lower taxes, less "waste", and reform but are actually cutting funding for the Interior Department and protections on the lands they love?
How many red staters who make a living off the environment and want to have their natural lands voted Trump to stick it to Obama and Clinton?
Maybe the sequels to "Whats The Matter With Kansas?" could be "Whats The Matter with Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, etc."
57
"What's the Matter with Utah"? would be the appropriate moniker. No state has done more to undermine public lands than that state and it is the misguided attempts of the Utah Senate delegation that prompted Trump ordering Zinke to review all National Monuments designated since the Clinton Administration.
5
I am so glad that Mr. Egan is writing about the importance of public lands, and pointing out that these lands belong to all Americans. For East Coasters, I would also suggest that the NYT report of the plans for the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline, which, if approved, will run through prime scenic territory within view of the Appalachian Trail. It will cut a corridor 150 feet wide in some places. It will run through 7 historic districts, including the town of Newport.
15
Thanks to Timothy Egan for another eloquent article on our national parks.
Last year I assigned Egan's earlier article "Can Poets Save the Parks?" (June 24, 2016) to my writing students for a required essay. Most of them approached writing about the article with enthusiasm. They searched the Internet for "Before" and "After" photos showing glaciers, waterfalls, wildlife habitats, and ecosystems as they had been as early as the 1870s, and as they are now, glaciers melting, lands eroded, wildlife and botanical species dwindling or lost. Some of those young people were stalwart Trump supporters even after that essay assignment. During discussion one day in class, I asked them what effect, if any, our leaving the Paris Agreement might have on our national park system. They understood and explained the effects well. Then I added that Trump campaigned on removing the U.S. from the Paris agreement--chagrin! The Trump supporters had not drawn that connection even though 2016 was the first time that many of them had been eligible to vote.
Mr. Egan, you are helping to educate our young people. You need to be more explicit, more detailed about the political threats. This is a good start, but not enough:
"That land is always under threat. The current White House occupant has. . . . ordered up a survey to see if he can take away from all of us some of the lands that were protected under powers created by that president who left his initials on the side of the Troy town hall."
Last year I assigned Egan's earlier article "Can Poets Save the Parks?" (June 24, 2016) to my writing students for a required essay. Most of them approached writing about the article with enthusiasm. They searched the Internet for "Before" and "After" photos showing glaciers, waterfalls, wildlife habitats, and ecosystems as they had been as early as the 1870s, and as they are now, glaciers melting, lands eroded, wildlife and botanical species dwindling or lost. Some of those young people were stalwart Trump supporters even after that essay assignment. During discussion one day in class, I asked them what effect, if any, our leaving the Paris Agreement might have on our national park system. They understood and explained the effects well. Then I added that Trump campaigned on removing the U.S. from the Paris agreement--chagrin! The Trump supporters had not drawn that connection even though 2016 was the first time that many of them had been eligible to vote.
Mr. Egan, you are helping to educate our young people. You need to be more explicit, more detailed about the political threats. This is a good start, but not enough:
"That land is always under threat. The current White House occupant has. . . . ordered up a survey to see if he can take away from all of us some of the lands that were protected under powers created by that president who left his initials on the side of the Troy town hall."
30
This is a place where I can mention the Devils Canyon TV Show. Thanks, Gold Searchers for highlighting all of the reasons why: Not to venture into the Forest! Bears, Falling Trees, Weather Extremes, Aching Backs, Falling Down Hills, Stinky Clothes, Carrying Heavy Backpacks etcetera.... not sure if someone had a "tick" lyme disease problem. Then there is the toilet paper issue. Oh yeah, about the movie Deliverance. ----- Hey Gold Searchers: You can have the Gold!
"We" are not the enemy of this "last best place." A very small portion of the population--people of means and power who want more of the same--are the enemies of this place. Plus some of their followers and fellow travellers. Let's not mystify matters with sappy language.
11
I suspect that a very large majority of the People would want the Parks and Wilderness Areas protected forever. Simple pride, really. We are citizens of such a glorious land, the owners of these places, how many of us wouldn't hold their head up and say "this land is my land"?
The problem is a non-functional and un-representative political system. The worlds first great Democracy isn't very democratic anymore.
The problem is a non-functional and un-representative political system. The worlds first great Democracy isn't very democratic anymore.
3
Even in the most remote locations, look up. You will see the sprayed lines in the sky, from Geoengineering. It is killing wildlife and trees, and eventually, us. It is really happening.
5
Public lands mean that the land is owned by many people who do not share your ideals, including the currently elected President. The uses to which public land is put will change along with the composition of Congress and the occupant of the White House. Your holier-than-thou preaching will do nothing to change that. If you want land put to your particular purposes, I suggest you and others who agree with you get together to buy it. Spending your time and effort telling others how to think is generally time ill spent. It will get you labeled a "New York Times Liberal", generally used as a pejorative.
2
"If you want land put to your particular purposes, I suggest you and others who agree with you get together to buy it."
Buy it?
I guess you missed Egan's entire point: the land he speaks of is public, which means it's NOT FOR SALE.
Buy it?
I guess you missed Egan's entire point: the land he speaks of is public, which means it's NOT FOR SALE.
8
"The uses to which public land is put will change along with the composition of Congress and the occupant of the White House. "
The purpose of some federal laws is to put restrictions on that, or prevent it outright.
The purpose of some federal laws is to put restrictions on that, or prevent it outright.
4
Not all ideals deserve the same level of respect or credibility. Trump is entitled to his view of public lands, but he shouldn't expect even a modicum of credibility when he's done nothing to develop an understanding of our public land or those who use them.
3
We are neither devils nor demons. Nor are we gods nor demigods nor masters of evolutionary natural selection. Nor are we separate and apart from our biological DNA genetic animal nature. There are no empty places in America.
The notion of private or public ownership of land was an alien concept to most prehistoric hunter gatherer or agricultural societies. Land was a sacred trust temporarily occupied for the benefit of posterity.
The notion of private or public ownership of land was an alien concept to most prehistoric hunter gatherer or agricultural societies. Land was a sacred trust temporarily occupied for the benefit of posterity.
8
I take it you have no understanding of the beauty of the lands which so many people believe their God created. I have visited many of the National Parks in the West and I abhor the fact that the lands are ripe for pillaging by the current administration all in the name of making money.
3
Places like this may save our climate as well as our souls.
With every passing summer a couple of tons per acre of carbon are inhaled by the trees and made into their wood, bark, leaves, and into the soil under them.
The trees and their forest may help us in many ways, if we let them.
With every passing summer a couple of tons per acre of carbon are inhaled by the trees and made into their wood, bark, leaves, and into the soil under them.
The trees and their forest may help us in many ways, if we let them.
14
It won't stay empty for long after exposure to the idle rich in the NYT.
5
The Republican attacks on healthcare make me angry. The attacks on wild places make me weep.
35
You see trees, wild animals, clean air and water. Beauty in other words. A Republican sees board feet of timber, unlimited places to drill and mine, rivers and streams to haul away their waste. Money in other words.
38
The pen is mightier than the chain saw--so please keep writing so eloquently about our public lands, Mr. Egan!
Take those city kids out to the forests to wander, explore, and exercise their sight, hearing, touch, and sense of smell--oh the sense of smell in a forest after a rain. And taste? Nothing like a campfire cooked breakfast at dawn.
Maybe your nephew should take Trump and his entire cabinet for a week retreat into the forest. Teach them orienteering, then give each a map and a compass, and see how well they do on their own finding their way back to the campground.
And if we lose a few of these armchair right-wing social darwinists who think that man controls and owns Nature, hey, it's survival of the fittest, so be it. No loss really. Or get caught in a storm in a small boat, as I have, twice. That is one of the quickest ways to learn respect for Nature.
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir
Take those city kids out to the forests to wander, explore, and exercise their sight, hearing, touch, and sense of smell--oh the sense of smell in a forest after a rain. And taste? Nothing like a campfire cooked breakfast at dawn.
Maybe your nephew should take Trump and his entire cabinet for a week retreat into the forest. Teach them orienteering, then give each a map and a compass, and see how well they do on their own finding their way back to the campground.
And if we lose a few of these armchair right-wing social darwinists who think that man controls and owns Nature, hey, it's survival of the fittest, so be it. No loss really. Or get caught in a storm in a small boat, as I have, twice. That is one of the quickest ways to learn respect for Nature.
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir
15
The Trump family does indeed go to the West - to Aspen for skiing.
1
Mr. Egan, What has or can be done to prosecute the public crooks and corporate thugs who colluded to pillage the Kootenai? I suppose naming and shaming would be a start. Has that been done? I'd like to read more about it.
8
THE KOOTENAI FOREST is being protected from the predatory nature of humans by being permitted to return to its natural, unspoiled state. Left alone, nature restores its order in which the varied biome creates a life cycle to sustain it. But we have the Trumpenstein Monster haunting the Orange House with his Orange hair and face, playing with the Presidential Slot Machine in the Oral Office. Turning the country into a series of private Trump golf courses would be his idea of improving the national parks. You may think that Trump is sui generis, capable of surviving in the wild. But, alas, orange hair and faces are artificial--found nowhere in nature (perhaps with the exception of the orangutans).
7
Do you think Donald Trump has ever hiked in a forest, even as a child? I wonder if he has ever slept in a tent, built a camp fire, or made a s'more? Has he ever laid on his back and marveled at the Milky Way which is so visible when you are away from city lights or smelled bacon cooked over a campfire the first thing in the morning? That's it, the Ligonberrys are going camping!
15
The region you speak about is indeed beautiful. From where I lived in Northern Idaho, driving through Libby and Kootenai NF was the quickest way to Glacier. I believe parts of The Revenant were filmed at Kootenai Falls. And clear cutting was an ugly practice in the 80's and early 90's. I'm glad to know the area is making a comeback.
Interestingly, the region, like many other empty places in the US, also attracts a lot of anti-government sorts as the nearby Ruby Ridge incident and the former Richard Butler neo-Nazi Aryan Nations compound testify. True, they were located in Northern Idaho, but it gives wonder to the number of John Grisham fictional characters that are hiding in the Last Best Empty Place in America.
Interestingly, the region, like many other empty places in the US, also attracts a lot of anti-government sorts as the nearby Ruby Ridge incident and the former Richard Butler neo-Nazi Aryan Nations compound testify. True, they were located in Northern Idaho, but it gives wonder to the number of John Grisham fictional characters that are hiding in the Last Best Empty Place in America.
3
Dictators see everything as theirs to do with as they wish, we need to topple the dictator and his his enablers.
9
Why'd you have to blab about the Yaak? Now it will become overrun with folks looking for that "new and unspoiled" area, and will want to get hammered at the Dirty Shame, and get the bumper sticker declaring "I survived the Yaak". If one finds hidden treasures like this these days, keep it to yourself, like ALYOSHA in WV. Too many of our parks are impossible to enjoy because of the mobs of Looky-Lous staring at nature that they don't comprehend.
7
It all depends on the type of individual this attracts. For me, a it's new place to backpack, quietly exploring the wilderness while leaving a minimal imprint. But increasingly it means fifth-wheel RV's with all the comforts of home, pulled by massive diesel pickups, powered by fume spewing generators, occupied by selfish, inconsiderate slobs for whom camping is just a slightly stripped down version of hanging out in their 'man-caves' or rec-rooms.
We all need places we can go to appreciate beauty in its raw forms. To me that means some effort should be necessary on the part of the explorer, and not building roads, paved trails, and campgrounds to bring the masses to nature's front door. For most of what passes for camping these days it makes little difference if the site is true wilderness or an overgrown lot next to a strip mall.
We all need places we can go to appreciate beauty in its raw forms. To me that means some effort should be necessary on the part of the explorer, and not building roads, paved trails, and campgrounds to bring the masses to nature's front door. For most of what passes for camping these days it makes little difference if the site is true wilderness or an overgrown lot next to a strip mall.
5
Yes, the commercialization of outdoor recreation, or what Edward Abbey dubbed "industrial tourism." The thing is, it isn't hard to ditch these crowds. Even in YNP, if one lingers after dusk, the crowds retreat into their RV's and human habitats. In GCNP, walk a mile below the rim, and poof, the crowds are gone. If one ignores the din of "Looky-Lous" and focuses on genuine wilderness experience, it is there to be had.
I was fortunate for years to have parachuted into many of the nation's western lands; wilderness, parks and otherwise. The Kootenai truly has one of the last remaining swaths of velvetted timber in the whole country. Jumping into the Kootenai to fight fire is rare, except for those hot dry years, when you might go back again and again. Back to the jungle that is the Kootenai, and then have to rappel from a 150-foot pine on the edge of a tiny clearing barely bigger than a parachute canopy. The Kootenai is often some of the hardest work, but it's worth every moment just to be there. The forest is carpeted so thick that it was the only place I ever went where we needed a long-line helicopter to medevac an injury. It really is another world - a better world in my opinion.
67
Mr Trump alone is a surmountable problem, but when backed by those who could control him there is little beyond lawsuits "we the people" can engage to protect our nation's land, which in theory belongs to all of us.
So long as we accept the lies instilled from birth, we will be led by the figurative nose ring installed at that time. It should be clear that many, if not most of those who we choose to represent us, consider the voting citizenry as no more than the means to their accumulation of power and personal wealth.
I respect my fellow citizens, but have real reservations with regard to the possibility of reciprocation from those among us who have not escaped the immersion of a lifelong indoctrination which began at birth.
So long as we accept the mental fiction of belief as truth, there is no hope the society we think exists will survive.
So long as we accept the lies instilled from birth, we will be led by the figurative nose ring installed at that time. It should be clear that many, if not most of those who we choose to represent us, consider the voting citizenry as no more than the means to their accumulation of power and personal wealth.
I respect my fellow citizens, but have real reservations with regard to the possibility of reciprocation from those among us who have not escaped the immersion of a lifelong indoctrination which began at birth.
So long as we accept the mental fiction of belief as truth, there is no hope the society we think exists will survive.
2
Great, necessary piece. Thanks, Timothy Egan.
Trump and his GOP cronies would dearly love to pillage and abuse our public lands, seeing them as an industrial playground, ripe for the taking. Teddy Roosevelt would be appalled at their efforts to undermine our shared wild places, lands belonging to all of us, there to enjoy in perpetuity.
We have to stop them. Keep calling your congressional representatives.
Our public lands are not for sale.
Trump and his GOP cronies would dearly love to pillage and abuse our public lands, seeing them as an industrial playground, ripe for the taking. Teddy Roosevelt would be appalled at their efforts to undermine our shared wild places, lands belonging to all of us, there to enjoy in perpetuity.
We have to stop them. Keep calling your congressional representatives.
Our public lands are not for sale.
10
In the past few squid-ink dark months I have worried about everything that I felt safe the past eight years: our forests, our waterways, the cool morning air, the ground beneath our feet. No more. It is now open season on our precious natural resources. Thank you Tim Egan for helping keep us sane.
4
Our national monument lands are under attack. The Trump administration and the secretary of the interior are considering reducing the size of the Giant
Sequoia National Monument in California. Forty years ago I visited this area
several times and fell in love with these trees. They rise to the sky in a forest
of unparalled beauty. To reduce the land around these trees would put them at risk. Logging and oil interests would benefit at the expense of the American
people. We must save this monument, all other national monuments, and our national parks for the benefit of future generations. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us to do the right thing.
Sequoia National Monument in California. Forty years ago I visited this area
several times and fell in love with these trees. They rise to the sky in a forest
of unparalled beauty. To reduce the land around these trees would put them at risk. Logging and oil interests would benefit at the expense of the American
people. We must save this monument, all other national monuments, and our national parks for the benefit of future generations. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us to do the right thing.
3
Thank-you for this article and for the attendance to our "wild places". We do need these places to restore our souls and to find what is really important in life- to be surrounded by beauty and solitude. Again - a warm thank-you.
4
Dear Tim,
Thank you for a lovely column that reminded me of a trip we took to many of our national parks when our kids (now 37 and 39) were 10 and 12, We didn't get to Montana, so happily, that is still on our list. This morning I got up early to enjoy the sun on one of Maine's many little ponds. The birds were up then too. This area is not wilderness any more, but you can get there from here. You have inspired me to get my family in the car and head for the Atlantic ocean, one of the East Coast's inspiring wonders if you look for the still undeveloped places. Tim, keep loving the wilderness and writing about it to remind us to fight to preserve it.
Thank you for a lovely column that reminded me of a trip we took to many of our national parks when our kids (now 37 and 39) were 10 and 12, We didn't get to Montana, so happily, that is still on our list. This morning I got up early to enjoy the sun on one of Maine's many little ponds. The birds were up then too. This area is not wilderness any more, but you can get there from here. You have inspired me to get my family in the car and head for the Atlantic ocean, one of the East Coast's inspiring wonders if you look for the still undeveloped places. Tim, keep loving the wilderness and writing about it to remind us to fight to preserve it.
4
Peter Wohlleben's book, "The Hidden Lives of Trees", and a recent article "Can Trees heal People" by Florence Williams will give additional thought to those who feel nature is inferior to man.
On the Oregon coast, clear cutting continues in an uncontrolled manner on privatized land. It's not a pretty.
We need to be vigilant and protect, preserve and expand what TR put in place long ago……..the benefits of nature and forests are only now just being discovered.
On the Oregon coast, clear cutting continues in an uncontrolled manner on privatized land. It's not a pretty.
We need to be vigilant and protect, preserve and expand what TR put in place long ago……..the benefits of nature and forests are only now just being discovered.
7
I know an emptier one. But mum's da woid.
5
Fortunately, trumpy doesn't read the "failing" Times....for heavens sake, Tim, don't call attention to specific wilderness areas! The last thing we need is for the failing administration to put them in it's sights, too. "Right after health care, let's destroy all the forests."
4
Beautiful piece of writing! There is nothing more humbling and beautiful than walking through the woods only to look up and see a black bear some 20 feet in front of you. It reminds you that we do not "own" this planet, and it is not for our taking. Because, if happening on a one-on-one encounter with a bear, the weakness of a human being will be revealed.
I have heard it said that we live IN the planet--not ON it. We are not the Earth's master and it was not given to us by some mystical being to destroy as we desire. Yet in turn, the wildness of the planet can heal our self-inflicted wounds--wounds inflicted by technical connectivity and the race for "stuff." It can calm our souls and give us our balance back.
Could the current President plant a garden? Would he even know how? Do we want a President who cannot even plant a garden? When he dies, what will he have done while here? What good is life without having ever touched the Earth? We all touch the Earth eventually but only the wisest (and I hope it is the large majority) touch while still breathing fresh air.
I have heard it said that we live IN the planet--not ON it. We are not the Earth's master and it was not given to us by some mystical being to destroy as we desire. Yet in turn, the wildness of the planet can heal our self-inflicted wounds--wounds inflicted by technical connectivity and the race for "stuff." It can calm our souls and give us our balance back.
Could the current President plant a garden? Would he even know how? Do we want a President who cannot even plant a garden? When he dies, what will he have done while here? What good is life without having ever touched the Earth? We all touch the Earth eventually but only the wisest (and I hope it is the large majority) touch while still breathing fresh air.
26
What a beautifully written piece by Tim Egan. A quote from the man who carved his initials on a wall in Troy, Teddy Roosevelt, about the Grand Canyon, but which has universal application to the infinite allurement of the wilderness, ."I hope you will not have a building of any kind...to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon,...The ages have been at work and only man can mar it"
15
Can you even imagine Donald Trump at any National Park? If you want to see what will be destroyed under this regime look up the list of over 20 national monuments that Trump intends to remove from protection and turn over to clear cutting and mountain top removal. Just like extinction, and linked there-to, Trump's impact is forever.
12
Oh yes! I've been to that open and special place... and as it heals from the assault from the money grabbers, we all must work hard to maintain it...
Our outdoors is a special and wonderful part of the West... sanctuary.
Thanx so much for the reminder♥️
Our outdoors is a special and wonderful part of the West... sanctuary.
Thanx so much for the reminder♥️
6
"There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places." - Wendell Berry
13
Summer after summer I sent my daughter to a local nature preserve for camp. She'd come back covered in mud (sometimes worse), having hiked for miles, happy as a clam, restored from the drudgery of the school year. Best thing I ever did for her. When she saved a box turtle on the road the other day, she knew to shield it from her scent by first grabbing handfuls of grass.
I have to admit I read the other editorials about the charlatan on the golf course before I read your piece, Mr. Egan. But your editorial is far more essential. While we are all distracted by the White House travesty, Pruitt, Zinke and others are busy dismantling our national effort to protect the wild. Thanks for reminding me what is essential.
I have to admit I read the other editorials about the charlatan on the golf course before I read your piece, Mr. Egan. But your editorial is far more essential. While we are all distracted by the White House travesty, Pruitt, Zinke and others are busy dismantling our national effort to protect the wild. Thanks for reminding me what is essential.
165
In America anno 2017 Trump reigns as an absolute monarch. Anything he decrees is law, including the official disdain for wilderness areas unless they contain natural resources in abundance that can readily be converted to cash machines.
3
Beautifully written. You have made me want to hop in the car, dog and cat in tow, and drive to Montana. I will likely settle for a visit to Cumberland Island. If your nephew has not read The Other by David Guterson, perhaps he should.
As one who has lived in one of the "last best places" for a long time, the sad truth that I have learned is that the locals are the worst enemies to them. They do not draw inspiration from the wonders of nature but look for ways to turn them into dollars now rather than preserving them for the future. People like your nephew are the eccentrics, few and far between.
10
The motivation to get richer and better protected by wealth is deforesting the world (see today's news articles). I would guess that the Earth can handle 3 billion of us living comfortably. Population. Birth control beats all the alternatives.
2
The golf course development of Trump is a scary brand, where everything is touched by humans, so the nature is essentially fake, and only the rich can use it. While I certainly enjoy living in a house, we need wide open spaces too. The GOP and Trump cannot see that it is preservation and conservation that allows for open spaces and intelligent use. I just pray that Trump, and his merry band of misfits, are out of office before damage is done.
6
Absolutely everything that the GOP endorses is a recipe for disaster--except for the handful of billionaires that can profit from it. From healthcare to women's rights to the environment (as this column points out so well) the Republican "plan" is short sighted, reactive, and cynical. Citizens who are capable of seeing the big picture will eventually overwhelm those who can only see things through their blind and crippling hatred of Obama.
7
In a powerful essay that so richly captured the awesomeness of nature - rivers, mountains, animals, and more - there were two jarring images; one of Chris Christie at the beach and the other of Trump playing golf. Two goons, thugs, and apology for human beings.
9
The shape of the United States ( let alone the world ) can be attributed to one of the greatest republicans ever ; President Theodore Roosevelt. ( 1906 )
Huge swaths of land from that time and since, have been put aside for the general good and usage of the public at large in perpetuity. Since then, there have been several acts ( the Wilderness act \ 1964 & the The Federal Land Policy and Management Act \ 1976 ) that have bolstered protection and put into place regulation on how to use said lands going forward.
Even that stalwart of protectionism towards the environment, President Nixon gave us the Clean water act of 1970\72.
Since then however, there has been many '' incursions'' onto those public lands for private conglomerate gain. We have outlaws taking over Federal buildings demanding the land be ''giving back '' to them. We have fracking companies doing their thing everywhere ( because of a back door in water management enacted by another republican ) that threatens not only public lands, but our drinking water, along with them.
The hectares put aside for public usage seems incomprehensible numerically, but at the same time so does the population that is expanding exponentially. We have a shrinking world, and not for the right reasons.
Huge swaths of land from that time and since, have been put aside for the general good and usage of the public at large in perpetuity. Since then, there have been several acts ( the Wilderness act \ 1964 & the The Federal Land Policy and Management Act \ 1976 ) that have bolstered protection and put into place regulation on how to use said lands going forward.
Even that stalwart of protectionism towards the environment, President Nixon gave us the Clean water act of 1970\72.
Since then however, there has been many '' incursions'' onto those public lands for private conglomerate gain. We have outlaws taking over Federal buildings demanding the land be ''giving back '' to them. We have fracking companies doing their thing everywhere ( because of a back door in water management enacted by another republican ) that threatens not only public lands, but our drinking water, along with them.
The hectares put aside for public usage seems incomprehensible numerically, but at the same time so does the population that is expanding exponentially. We have a shrinking world, and not for the right reasons.
14
Presidents think about their legacy. Should Trump proceed with his plans of plunder, he should rest assured that he will be more reviled in the future than he is now.
5
We can be its savior but It will take real effort on our part to make sure that it isn't logged to death and "developed".
4
Amen. Preach it, brother Tim. I hope someone's convinced.
2
Well said.
1
"His habitat is a golf course under heavy guard."
This is perhaps his greatest evil, one he'd inflict on all of us who love the Wild. He's past being healed by it. It's too late for such a man.
But for many of our citizens, their natural habitats are a chemically drenched lawn for a BBQ, a deck, a moving air-conditioned box that moves them to an office. Many of them can be saved before the rotten edifice of our economic system falls for the duration.
It's them, not this evil man in the White House, I want to save.
This is perhaps his greatest evil, one he'd inflict on all of us who love the Wild. He's past being healed by it. It's too late for such a man.
But for many of our citizens, their natural habitats are a chemically drenched lawn for a BBQ, a deck, a moving air-conditioned box that moves them to an office. Many of them can be saved before the rotten edifice of our economic system falls for the duration.
It's them, not this evil man in the White House, I want to save.
1
Timothy Egan at his best.
5
The prophecy of ; '' the paved paradise and put u a parking lot'' comes true each and every passing day under republican rule.
Maybe we could make every republican district a national park so everyone could visit and partake, instead of it being for a select few.
Maybe we could make every republican district a national park so everyone could visit and partake, instead of it being for a select few.
1
We should recall reclamation of the past. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted 485 trees in Michigan between 1933 and 1942. These forests had been denuded through excessive and poorly practiced lumbering. The replanted forests of the Upper Peninsula as well as Manistee and Huron National forests are now a taken-for-granted wonder-space. They are a result of good federal and state government. Government is not the problem. Greed is.
9
Great article. That being said, a small inset map would have been dandy.
1
I used to fish a place called Gee Creek which I discovered while serving in the Navy in northwest Washington State. After completing my enlistment, I was absent from the State for two years. Upon my return to Washington State, I found the creek has disappeared. It was simply plowed under during a clear cut.
Today, those clearcuts near to streams have a buffer zone so this will not happen in the future, or will it? With the Trump Administration in charge and the persons he has placed in charge of our public lands, I fear for the future of these lands.
I would not be surprised to hear of them proposing geothermal development in Yellowstone.
Today, those clearcuts near to streams have a buffer zone so this will not happen in the future, or will it? With the Trump Administration in charge and the persons he has placed in charge of our public lands, I fear for the future of these lands.
I would not be surprised to hear of them proposing geothermal development in Yellowstone.
7
One problem is that another person could wear a "Public Land Owner" t-shirt with the belief that the appellation entitles them to exploit public lands to their heart's content.
1
"... for Tom Sawyer summers, for sleep induced by the white noise of that same Yaak River, for perspective". Mr. Ehan has captured in these few eloquent descriptors the essence of something I've long tried to describe but have never been able to verbalize. I consider myself an adequate, and at times clever wordsmith, but I'm humbled, and that's always a good thing. Whether you feel it at the Grand Canyon, Lake George, the Sonoran desert or exploring caves with petroglyphs, the sense that nature is something much larger and more beautiful than oneself is a rare fleeting gift.
I've hiked hours into deep woods and other vast landscapes, to take a nap, feel small and wake up in wonder. I've been surprised by creatures great and small, breathed the cleanest air there is and heard secrets whispered by the breeze that one only hears when no one else is there. How often do we get the chance to witness time stand still?
I've hiked hours into deep woods and other vast landscapes, to take a nap, feel small and wake up in wonder. I've been surprised by creatures great and small, breathed the cleanest air there is and heard secrets whispered by the breeze that one only hears when no one else is there. How often do we get the chance to witness time stand still?
1
Our greatest enemy is any man who values things only by how much he can monetize them and plunder their wealth for his own coffers. Like our Grifter-in-Chief, Mr. Trump.
4
The vegetation loss, wildlife habitat loss, sediment choking of perennial streams is similar under catastrophic wildfire. The corporate greed you speak of was frequently family loggers working with US Forest Service professionals trying to make an honest (and at the time silviculturally appropriate) living. Canonization of NGOs and the guilty verdicts to loggers perpetuates the ongoing and hateful political clash. Consider lightening up on men and women in the business and working landscapes. Btw, love your writing.
This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York island.... And private ownership requires stewardship (remember the Dust Bowl).
2
I remember years ago as a member of a hunting club in North Central Pa., we took it upon ourselves (10) to act as stewards of the land, and we had taken great care. Years later I went to the top of a mountain I hunted on with my young boys to target shoot near a fire tower. The state had put up a large metal gate on the access road and walking beyond that I witnessed the destruction by atvs' which had carved numerous muddy trails across the entire area! Unless our society some day can convince the "Yahoos" not to destroy the Beautiful woods in a mindless speed dash in the form of "recreation" on these machines, what hope is there?
5
And isn't sad that Trump's interior secretary and formerly sole congressman actually lived for a time not far from the very forest and valleys Tim Egan describes. He has always promised to protect Montana's public lands. There are more sophisticated terms to describe Zinke, but the most concise is liar.
6
So happy to see this piece.
As a New Yorker, I'm experiencing some of Egan's bliss in a snug corner of Florida. It may not be Montana, but sure as hell ain't New York either: birds, alligators, quiet--mostly-- great varieties of trees, clear skies, clear air--more than less. It's great living.
As a New Yorker, I'm experiencing some of Egan's bliss in a snug corner of Florida. It may not be Montana, but sure as hell ain't New York either: birds, alligators, quiet--mostly-- great varieties of trees, clear skies, clear air--more than less. It's great living.
1
For every Yaak Valley in the U.S. there are a thousand in Canada, the best country in the world.
2
My wife and I lived in Libby MT 1986-88. At that time Champion was working overtime denuding the Kootenai NF. There was minimal replanting. Never the less we did spend every free moment camping and hiking in the NF.
What areas were replanted was the usual monoculture forest,in convenient rows for another land-rape some 30 or 40 years in the future. The smaller logging roads,once closed off, became a thick choked mas of small alder.
Mr.Eagen is quite wrong in claiming that "the Kootenai forest is on the mend". Yeah,there are trees growing where once there was barren hillsides. Yeah you can catch trout in the Yaak and Kootenai river. The eco-system in NW Montana was pretty much destroyed. Go look at the satellite maps in Google for this area. The deep greens are older forest,the light greens are much newer areas.There still are a myriad of denuded tracts. There are thousands of miles of logging roads that were subsidized by government (your tax dollars).
Only the most naive city dweller could write what Mr Egan did.
Yes-he did see trees. He did not see on his cursory visit (if indeed he did) the devastation that will take a 100 years to heal.
What areas were replanted was the usual monoculture forest,in convenient rows for another land-rape some 30 or 40 years in the future. The smaller logging roads,once closed off, became a thick choked mas of small alder.
Mr.Eagen is quite wrong in claiming that "the Kootenai forest is on the mend". Yeah,there are trees growing where once there was barren hillsides. Yeah you can catch trout in the Yaak and Kootenai river. The eco-system in NW Montana was pretty much destroyed. Go look at the satellite maps in Google for this area. The deep greens are older forest,the light greens are much newer areas.There still are a myriad of denuded tracts. There are thousands of miles of logging roads that were subsidized by government (your tax dollars).
Only the most naive city dweller could write what Mr Egan did.
Yes-he did see trees. He did not see on his cursory visit (if indeed he did) the devastation that will take a 100 years to heal.
4
Truth. Walk a mile in the wildness to know how far a mile really is. These wild places are the indisputable guardians of truth; truth for the our environment and truth within ourselves. Teddy Roosevelt knew we had a duty to protect wild places for our children. Don Trump drives his cart across golf course greens. Stay East, Old Man, Stay East!
3
"This land is your land; this land is my land; from the Gulf Stream waters to the New York island."
Mr. Egan, "this land was made for you and me" has been raped by rapacity, plunder, greed for profit and a theft so monstrous from its original American settlers that what we have now is unrecognizable, a mutilated corpse. "This land" doesn't belong to us; "this land" is now owned by corporations and private enterprise; by drillers and clearers, by developers and pipelines...for money.
This is who we are as Americans and what we've become as stewards of our planet. The heart-breaking poetic evocations of your opening lines mean naught to the current president nor to his enablers and handlers in Congress. They want to sell off what's left of Nature's virgin delights...for money. They forbid us to admire her; perhaps even to adore her. No; they want to exploit her treasures, not to share with others, but to harvest her yield for their selfish, purposeless ends...for money.
As you point out, Donald Trump, as president, has absented himself from the time zones that some derisively sneer at as "flyover country." He's really not an American because he doesn't love her history, her beauty, her ancientry, her promise, her bounty. If she exists for him at all, she is his maidservant (or worse); she comes when summoned, does his bidding, and departs in sorrow.
And we look on. Because unlike "you and me," for whom "this land was made," he doesn't care.
His many golf courses beckon.
Mr. Egan, "this land was made for you and me" has been raped by rapacity, plunder, greed for profit and a theft so monstrous from its original American settlers that what we have now is unrecognizable, a mutilated corpse. "This land" doesn't belong to us; "this land" is now owned by corporations and private enterprise; by drillers and clearers, by developers and pipelines...for money.
This is who we are as Americans and what we've become as stewards of our planet. The heart-breaking poetic evocations of your opening lines mean naught to the current president nor to his enablers and handlers in Congress. They want to sell off what's left of Nature's virgin delights...for money. They forbid us to admire her; perhaps even to adore her. No; they want to exploit her treasures, not to share with others, but to harvest her yield for their selfish, purposeless ends...for money.
As you point out, Donald Trump, as president, has absented himself from the time zones that some derisively sneer at as "flyover country." He's really not an American because he doesn't love her history, her beauty, her ancientry, her promise, her bounty. If she exists for him at all, she is his maidservant (or worse); she comes when summoned, does his bidding, and departs in sorrow.
And we look on. Because unlike "you and me," for whom "this land was made," he doesn't care.
His many golf courses beckon.
4
Dr. Seuss wrote about what happens when lands are subject to buman greed in his 1971 classic The Lorax.
2
Not one acre of currently protected land should be opened for development. If it means someone makes less money or even loses a job, tough. We're specks in time; the earth lives on. I'm going to Big Bend in Texas and southern New Mexico's Organ Mountains (thank you, Mr. Obama, for preserving much of it) in mid-September. I am so looking forward to it.
5
>>
“I would annex the planets if I could.”
CECIL RHODES
“You know, it's easier to imagine the death of the planet than it is to imagine the death of capitalism."
Henry Giroux
“I would annex the planets if I could.”
CECIL RHODES
“You know, it's easier to imagine the death of the planet than it is to imagine the death of capitalism."
Henry Giroux
We have had a getaway cabin for pver 20 years smack dab in the middle of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. We are blessed as our day starts on the deck with coffee and the sound of tapping, more like banging from the pileated woodpecker, the largest of woodpecker in North America. The bird here is locally named "Lord God" for it is majestic appearance.
Like the Kootenai National Forest this forest too was clear cut in the 1920's. But it has returned and today we enjoy the hikes into these lower Appalachian Mountains, and the Rich Mountain Wilderness, and Cohutta Mountain Wilderness.
Thank you Timothy for bringing this subject of the value of National Forests to all of us.
I'm on our deck writing this now. Okay singing off now, back to daydreaming
Like the Kootenai National Forest this forest too was clear cut in the 1920's. But it has returned and today we enjoy the hikes into these lower Appalachian Mountains, and the Rich Mountain Wilderness, and Cohutta Mountain Wilderness.
Thank you Timothy for bringing this subject of the value of National Forests to all of us.
I'm on our deck writing this now. Okay singing off now, back to daydreaming
1
Trump's brain has a lot of "wide open spaces."
The man knows nothing and it showed during the health
insurance battle.
The man knows nothing and it showed during the health
insurance battle.
'Jeremy, come down from that tree and leave that chatting squirrel alone!', at 20 feet high, it will be the Fire Department next.
Having just enjoyed Mr. Egan's splendid description of a winding road to take in the joys of nature, he has reminded this reader to start 'Huckleberry Finn'. I am surrounded by cowboys here and little do they know that they all carry names like 'Mr. Fox'. My sibling 'Bear' is probably reading this article as well, and he has been as far as the Amazon in search of birds, 'feathered' ones.
The trap for the woodchuck has been banned, and it will give the old boys something to laugh about when they hear that its burrow has been filled with playing marbles in little nets. A copy of 'Savage Sam' published in the 60s was given to a favorite of Old Yeller and he had just brought me some venison as a gift. Don't tell your friends that you are eating Bambi!
But, Mr. Egan, will never know about the 2000 acre estate, long abandoned, the mansion destroyed by a fire, nor the mysterious haunted lake where Brian Boru, the Irish wolfhound and I, used to walk so long ago. It is all gone now but the ghosts linger on, and I would not have it any other way.
Having just enjoyed Mr. Egan's splendid description of a winding road to take in the joys of nature, he has reminded this reader to start 'Huckleberry Finn'. I am surrounded by cowboys here and little do they know that they all carry names like 'Mr. Fox'. My sibling 'Bear' is probably reading this article as well, and he has been as far as the Amazon in search of birds, 'feathered' ones.
The trap for the woodchuck has been banned, and it will give the old boys something to laugh about when they hear that its burrow has been filled with playing marbles in little nets. A copy of 'Savage Sam' published in the 60s was given to a favorite of Old Yeller and he had just brought me some venison as a gift. Don't tell your friends that you are eating Bambi!
But, Mr. Egan, will never know about the 2000 acre estate, long abandoned, the mansion destroyed by a fire, nor the mysterious haunted lake where Brian Boru, the Irish wolfhound and I, used to walk so long ago. It is all gone now but the ghosts linger on, and I would not have it any other way.
3
Not to worry, though. Kevin McCarthy is attempting to facilitate the opening of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, also a National Historic Landmark due to its archeological value and the largest single native grassland in California, to oil drilling. This year's spectacular wildflower superbloom will be transformed to the sight of jack pumps and pipelines if the Trump Interior Department is successful. The Bakersfield deli owner knows he has to appease his Republican rancher/driller base to stay in office. They'll never have enough, Kevin. Grow a spine.
7
The earth may shrug with a giant earthquake or volcanic eruption. Another asteroid may smash into us. We cannot prevent all misery, but we must try to restrain the worst instincts of mindless mankind. I think of Eva Gore-Booth here, sister of Irish revolutionary Constance Markievicz. Eva wrote about nature, and included these lines:
“…Every little stream that runs
Holds the light of brighter suns…
“But where men in office sit
Winter holds the human wit…”
“…Every little stream that runs
Holds the light of brighter suns…
“But where men in office sit
Winter holds the human wit…”
3
Clear, cold water is as important to people as it is to fish & wildlife. Matters not whether you're reclusive & diffident or friendly & energetic. Seems that timber interests from Idaho are the major culprits in the irresponsible tactics that have caused problems on the Yaak from what I've read. To some people nature's beauty & integrity is irrelevant.
Good to see that the protectors & the reasonable are on the job in a beautiful part of America.
Good to see that the protectors & the reasonable are on the job in a beautiful part of America.
6
As usual I second all your assertions Tim. I live 10 miles from the Kootenai National Forest. And like you, I have close relatives who hunt and fish, and see me as a city slicker. We must keep in mind that Secretary Zyncke (an outdoorsman) is giving away a lot of public land to exploitation.
4
Mr. Egan - As profound as the natural landscape and its inhabitants are the words you used to described them. Simply. Elegant. Writing. I was totally swept away for 3-4 minutes, watching the sun break through trees, feeling the rush of water around my ankles, and listening to the sounds that you can only hear in a forest. I have return to your piece twice now today. An oasis. Thank you.
4
The enemy of these places is Trump and his ilk. The corporations who raped it and will kill it if given the chance. "Corporation"... from the root "corpse". Body, as opposed to spirit. And those drones who do their dirty work.
BTW, I think Tarzan was a vegetarian. And he would not hang out at the Dirty Shame.
BTW, I think Tarzan was a vegetarian. And he would not hang out at the Dirty Shame.
2
Thank you. No much hope for Trump, though. The man thinks Camp David is too rustic.
2
I totally agree Tim. Back in the 70's I lived in Red Lodge, Montana. Jeremiah Johnson's cabin is still there where he was once the Sheriff. My back yard view was prettier than Yellowstone. There are fewer and fewer places in the United States where you can truly get away and see and feel the natural beauty. We must protect these areas for our future sanity. If you want to experience the ultimate opioids, it's not in your drug drawer, it's in God's Creation. Don't let fools like Donald Trump take that away.
6
In summary, land used by hippies (either for hiking or more likely just to satisfy a delusional yearning for a distant and abstract natural utopia) is good, land used by the knuckle-dragging inhabitants of western states to make a living is bad.
5
All the knuckle draggers aren't in the West, some are in N.J.
4
Agreed, without a smidge of sarcasm. And that's MR. Hippie, SIR, to you, knuckle-dragger.
2
That's what you took from this piece? Wow. What a small, simple mind you have. I have a better idea. Instead of people scratching out a living on PUBLIC lands, let's develop the lands! How about more golf courses? The "knuckle-dragging inhabitants" (your words), could work in the country clubs.
1
A lovely and apropos piece Mr. Egan. I write this from a campground in western Colorado. My family and I are traveling throughout this part of the country, camping in various National Parks and Forest Service campgrounds. It is something everyone should do. The solitude, the closeness of nature, brings a perspective on life that we all need.
1
Conservation is a conservative ideal. Cruel irony is the absence of conservationists among today's "Conservatives".
13
This piece means so much to me. An observation that should strike a cord with the all of us. TR helped change our country for the better, and his legacy needs preservation. Fight on.
11
Thank you, Mr. Egan, for a much needed perspective on the past and fearful future threats to all wild public land in America.
“Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac.
“Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac.
20
Great column, makes me want to head west immediately. it also really brings home the notion that Trump might be the very antithesis of Teddy Roosevelt, a New Yorker who got his political start by actually protecting the well-being of the working class -- rather than making hollow promises. Roosevelt was also a physical fitness nut and as articulate and well-read as any president. It's so depressing to realize that we've regressed so far in our choice of leaders in the past hundred or so years. I shudder to think how much further from Teddy we can go.
34
I am lucky that my next door neighbor is a National Park. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park have the only Appalachian mountain not stripped mined or suffered 'mountain top removal'. Both were sins of the coal companies.
11
My father-in-law was a superintendent of a national park in the southwest, where he was resisting the efforts of a corporation that wanted to expand its business along the park's pristine lakefront.
The company basically wanted a permit to sprawl, but was getting nowhere with F-I-L, so it turned to Washington for assistance. Next thing you know, the senator of that wildly beautiful state leaned on the Secretary of the Interior, and word came down to the park that the permit shall be issued.
My father-in-law approved the permit and in his very next act, asked his secretary to draw up his resignation papers. And so he went. And so it goes.
32
Tom paints an either-or world. It's as uncompelling a view on the tree-hugging left as is that of the clear-cut abusers on the right. There must be room for rational development of western lands if western states are to be taken as seriously equivalent to eastern states, whose economic development is hampered to such a dramatically lesser degree owing to the far smaller proportion of them owned by the feds.
The keys are moderation, rational regulation and a natural suspicion of a tree-hugging that is altogether too excessive.
Then, I've always preferred Wyoming to Montana. Time to buy a piece of it before we run out of Wyomings.
The keys are moderation, rational regulation and a natural suspicion of a tree-hugging that is altogether too excessive.
Then, I've always preferred Wyoming to Montana. Time to buy a piece of it before we run out of Wyomings.
1
No, Richard, no. Pristine is exactly that. Left alone. Not rationally or moderately ruined. Just left alone.
40
I agree with your assessment that there needs to be a balance between the interests. However, I have seen the "balance" this state of mine would use to exploit those lands that should be protected. This state would also auction lands to the highest "juiced-in" bidder thus locking the public out of these lands.
Many of us in this state have always been "left-leaning tree huggers" out of necessity in order to protect these lands for future generations.
Is our tree-hugging excessive? Perhaps to those who do not understand the issues facing land use in the western part of this country.
Sadly there is no moderation or rational regulation among the politicians who will benefit in the form of campaign contributions (and in some cases where conflict of interest laws do not exist, lucrative jobs).
Indeed many of us are tree-huggers. Without that activism you will need to buy that piece of Wyoming soon, very soon as we will run out of those undeveloped public lands in the west.
Many of us in this state have always been "left-leaning tree huggers" out of necessity in order to protect these lands for future generations.
Is our tree-hugging excessive? Perhaps to those who do not understand the issues facing land use in the western part of this country.
Sadly there is no moderation or rational regulation among the politicians who will benefit in the form of campaign contributions (and in some cases where conflict of interest laws do not exist, lucrative jobs).
Indeed many of us are tree-huggers. Without that activism you will need to buy that piece of Wyoming soon, very soon as we will run out of those undeveloped public lands in the west.
16
Very interesting observation. I have always thought the Lincoln Memorial is a misuse of space in the center of a busy city. Not that it should be demolished for redevelopment, but certainly part of it could be "repurposed" for some job-creating or tax revenue-generating uses. Rational development does not mean that everything must function in the same way or at the same level; indeed some places might be best used intensively to gain the advantage of economies of scale or proximity will others should not be used at all. Probably my inclination would be to remove Mr. Egan's nephew from the Kootenai before he convinces others to move there in search of their voices and there is no longer a place for grizzlies and the new arrivals complain the cougars eat their cats. I hope Oregon or Montana or New Mexico are never taken as "seriously equivalent" to states like New Jersey, an unending array of toxic waste sites and subdivisions tied together by ribbons of concrete. I grew up there and lament continuing pressures on the last few open spaces. Most of all I lament New Jersey produces an attitude of time to buy a tiny, solitary "piece of it" nurturing a gopher instead of taking joy in owning an indivisible piece of 2.2 million acres of the Kootenai, a place where wolves can range. The public lands of the West are not owned by the feds they are owned by a special corporation known as the American people. Buy a lot near a golf course in Bedminister; its owner will appreciate you.
11
Timothy: your writing is the silver cloud in this darkening world. Thank you.
54
Beautiful writing, as usual, Mr. Egan. Thank you.
40
We and I mean all American's need to defend and protect our parks and forests. I just looked at the area mentioned in the article via Google earth... still a lot of bare patches where clear cutting took place.
I happen to live in a national forest on the East coast but we have the same pressures against leaving nature alone. Our logging is mostly clear cut but the result is a swampy area (for awhile), not a landslide.
I happen to live in a national forest on the East coast but we have the same pressures against leaving nature alone. Our logging is mostly clear cut but the result is a swampy area (for awhile), not a landslide.
7
Timothy you my friend are a treasure like the national parks. If there is a common thread to blue and red divisions in our country, I believe it should be our sacred land.
I had the pleasure to live in Oregon in the early eighties and fell in love with the vastness of the mountains and the Oregon coastline.
The beauty of the Grand Tetons, the Boundary Water Canoe Area of Minnesota, the Nicollet National Forest in Northern Wisconsin, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Grand Canyon or any other national park is a gift from the heavens. Thank God for TR and all those who work in our national parks.
Thank for this reminder of our great natural resource and the public lands we must save for future generations.
I had the pleasure to live in Oregon in the early eighties and fell in love with the vastness of the mountains and the Oregon coastline.
The beauty of the Grand Tetons, the Boundary Water Canoe Area of Minnesota, the Nicollet National Forest in Northern Wisconsin, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Grand Canyon or any other national park is a gift from the heavens. Thank God for TR and all those who work in our national parks.
Thank for this reminder of our great natural resource and the public lands we must save for future generations.
81
A beautiful and timely piece. With the stench coming out of Washington, D.C., we need more than ever to be reminded of this country's great natural wonders, with their capacity to inspire and unite all Americans.
47
Mr. Egan-- Right on. I look forward to Friday, not only to escape the cubicle farm where I work but wait for this column and every week I share your column with my facebook friends. This picture is what i hope my great great grandkids are able to enjoy.
18
It saddens me, Mr. Egan. It truly does.
On the one hand, there are significant threats to what little remains as wild, places one can go to breathe, to hear the world breathe, to feel the oxygen-rich air soothing the lungs, to forget what lies beyond the ridge, to dream of a world still in balance, to walk or run and be alive.
But, must we tell the world?
And, of course, we must. Right now, great swaths are dying due to insect infestation, fires are raging, human habitation is encroaching all around, the cycles of snow and melt and heat are less predictable, non-human creatures are migrating, trying to stay ahead of the changes. Those who live the lives you describe are not the pioneers, they are among the last and the changes are coming for them, too.
I think we may slow it, but I fear there is no going back.
On the one hand, there are significant threats to what little remains as wild, places one can go to breathe, to hear the world breathe, to feel the oxygen-rich air soothing the lungs, to forget what lies beyond the ridge, to dream of a world still in balance, to walk or run and be alive.
But, must we tell the world?
And, of course, we must. Right now, great swaths are dying due to insect infestation, fires are raging, human habitation is encroaching all around, the cycles of snow and melt and heat are less predictable, non-human creatures are migrating, trying to stay ahead of the changes. Those who live the lives you describe are not the pioneers, they are among the last and the changes are coming for them, too.
I think we may slow it, but I fear there is no going back.
20
States such as IN, OH, OK and TX with no federal land to speak of have little idea the importance of keeping these beautiful places just as they are. Westerners know and love our federal lands and cannot imagine an America without them. As has been in the past we have politicians supported by big business who see nothing but dollar signs when they view these empty places. Once these places are gone, they will be gone forever. A very sad thought unless your view of nature is only a golf course.
68
Bella, I agree with your basic sentiment but have to correct your statement about Ohio. The state is home to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Wayne National Forest, neither of which is pristine wilderness but both of which offer thousands of acres of hiking, canoeing, and quiet. The state and metroparks systems offer many more large tracts of protected land.
Unfortunately, all are under threat at the present time. The Obama administration's Forest Service allowed tracts of the Wayne to be leased for natural gas drilling, leases which, fortunately, have not yet been permitted, and the state legislature wants to open all parklands to fossil fuel exploration. Many Ohioans are fighting to protect these public treasures, so all is not lost in the East.
Unfortunately, all are under threat at the present time. The Obama administration's Forest Service allowed tracts of the Wayne to be leased for natural gas drilling, leases which, fortunately, have not yet been permitted, and the state legislature wants to open all parklands to fossil fuel exploration. Many Ohioans are fighting to protect these public treasures, so all is not lost in the East.
14
You are so right and I would remind all of my fellow "environmentalists" that conservatives in this nation LOATH the idea of federally controlled land and will never cease to try to take it from our citizens for a profit motive. I get to hear how evil federally owned land and parks are every family holiday. Never stop fighting for our natural world and for federal protection of wildlands.
1
The First National Park is commonly reported as Yellowstone in Wyoming, but one park is older as preserved Federal Land- Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. In 1820 the Arkansas Territorial Legislature asked the Federal Government to protect the area around the Hot Springs. Although it was not designated a National Park until many years later, the people of that distant time could clearly see the value of setting aside special places for all to enjoy and to preserve from exploitation.
In 1832 Congress and the President set the land aside as Hot Springs Reservation- 40 years before Yellowstone.
Notice this was in now Red Arkansas and it was the first generation of White settlers that asked the National Government to protect a place within their territory. My how times have changed.
In 1832 Congress and the President set the land aside as Hot Springs Reservation- 40 years before Yellowstone.
Notice this was in now Red Arkansas and it was the first generation of White settlers that asked the National Government to protect a place within their territory. My how times have changed.
1
I'm constantly amazed (well, that's not true - in the age of Trump, nothing seems surprising anymore) at the number of folks who seem to take as fact that any land within a state's boundary belongs, per se, to that state. Apparently they missed that small detail about how the country's lands went from territory status to statehood and how Federal lands were allocated thru that process, most to the states but some retained in trust for all of the citizenry - not just a few. But hey, understanding any of that would probably require reading a book or 2, and who does that anymore. Mr. Egan's point is spot on - these special places belong to all of us - in trust for future generations, and don't let anyone tell you different - even under some tortured read of the states' rights doctrine. It simply don't work that way.
73
I agree with you. I'm always find myself reminding people that states were carved out of Federal land, not the other way around.
2
Trump has already begun his attack on our land. It doesn't matter if you live in the west or the east, the public lands belong to all Americans.
55
In my twenties, I watched the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. Raised in a housing project, living in a studio apartment and in thrall to the city, I thought I'd been "to the country" before. I hadn't. Nothing prepared me for the depth or breadth of it, the silence or the wonder.
Acadia was my first National Park. Being there made me a part of America in ways I'd never considered. It was like receiving my first library card: all of these riches are yours too, forever.
Acadia was my first National Park. Being there made me a part of America in ways I'd never considered. It was like receiving my first library card: all of these riches are yours too, forever.
172
In my early twenties I visited Acadia and witnessed a beautiful sunset on the Atlantic Ocean, only to be gobsmacked by the idea of seeing the sun set in the ocean on the East Coast. Wow!
2
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke toured Oregon's Cascade Siskou National Monument recently on a fact finding mission. Should it be reduced in size, or should it exist at all?
The monument is at the convergence of the Cascade, Siskou and Klamath mountain ranges. It is an area that brings together several diverse habitats that attracts species that usually live in different ecosystems. For this reason, Bill Clinton made it a national monument in 2000.
Obama added 48,000 acres this year. The expansion is being challenged by logging interests.
Secretary Zinke is riding his horse around many of the 27 national monuments that are under scrutiny. He plans to advise Trump about resizing or abolishing them.
While our collective eyes are on Russia Gate and ACA, Trump's minions are planning to demolish our country. Our public lands are in danger. Companies interested in logging, mining, drilling, grazing and other concessions are putting on the pressure. The National Parks and Forestry,
Fish and Wildlife budgets are in danger of significant cuts.
Join a conservation organization and read their newsletter. Become a member of the National Parks Foundation. Start paying attention to our wild spaces or they are going to disappear. Please pay attention to our public lands or I'm afraid we will either lose them altogether or they will be ruined.
The monument is at the convergence of the Cascade, Siskou and Klamath mountain ranges. It is an area that brings together several diverse habitats that attracts species that usually live in different ecosystems. For this reason, Bill Clinton made it a national monument in 2000.
Obama added 48,000 acres this year. The expansion is being challenged by logging interests.
Secretary Zinke is riding his horse around many of the 27 national monuments that are under scrutiny. He plans to advise Trump about resizing or abolishing them.
While our collective eyes are on Russia Gate and ACA, Trump's minions are planning to demolish our country. Our public lands are in danger. Companies interested in logging, mining, drilling, grazing and other concessions are putting on the pressure. The National Parks and Forestry,
Fish and Wildlife budgets are in danger of significant cuts.
Join a conservation organization and read their newsletter. Become a member of the National Parks Foundation. Start paying attention to our wild spaces or they are going to disappear. Please pay attention to our public lands or I'm afraid we will either lose them altogether or they will be ruined.
220
Thank you, Gail. Excellent advice.
I'm joining the Sierra Club today (belonged in prior years, allowed membership to lapse). Donations to that organization, the Humane Society of the U.S., the Center For Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood are my personal approach to protecting land and animals from devastating and destructive human population.
I'm joining the Sierra Club today (belonged in prior years, allowed membership to lapse). Donations to that organization, the Humane Society of the U.S., the Center For Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood are my personal approach to protecting land and animals from devastating and destructive human population.
1
Agreed. But logging and replanting can be beneficial to a forest's health including reducing wildfire risk. Badly done clearcuts are bad of course. But responsible forest management is needed.
21
What's beneficial and reduces risk of fire is removing small trees and litter from fallen branches, etc. from the forest floor. But that's labor-intensive, and there's no profit in it. Culling a few big trees may not be very harmful, but again, getting them out from among the other big trees is cumbersome and unprofitable. The forests sustained themselves rather well from the receding of the continental glaciers until the coming of the Europeans; occasional wildfires caused by lightning were part of the process, tending to remove debris before it accumulated enough to fuel catastrophic fires.
I don't think there's any such thing as a well done clearcut.
I don't think there's any such thing as a well done clearcut.
19
Mr. Agnostique
"Badly done clearcuts"? Sorry to have to do this but maybe some re-thinking is appropriate.
"Badly done clearcuts"? Sorry to have to do this but maybe some re-thinking is appropriate.
1
Logging, even selectively, takes the big stuff and leaves the little stuff, which makes forests more prone to ravaging wildfire, not less.
You can't log the forest in order to save it. That said, you can selectively log second growth to make it more diverse for wildlife.
You can't log the forest in order to save it. That said, you can selectively log second growth to make it more diverse for wildlife.
3
Thanks for another column that celebrates a wonderful aspect of our great country. It warms my heart. We need more positivism these days, any days.
44
47% of the West is federally owned. 4% of the East. There are plenty of areas of natural beauty in the East. It is well past time that the feds dedicated a park e East of the Mississippi.
61
Everglades National Park
Great Smokey Mountains National Park
Acadia National Park
Eastern US readers: please add more to this list, including National Forests, such as Mark Twain National Forest
Great Smokey Mountains National Park
Acadia National Park
Eastern US readers: please add more to this list, including National Forests, such as Mark Twain National Forest
6
Are you serious, Michjas? A simple review of the National Park Service will easily point out federal and state lands in the East. I'm sure you are aware that the East was over-developed well in advance of Teddy Roosevelt's efforts to preserve what was still pristine in the West. Perhaps that is why he began the federal effort?
4
Green Mountain National Forest (my neighbor), Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (VT), White Mountain National Forest (NH) -- all gems!
2
We who are lucky enough to be able to enjoy and empty place.
I have just written in my So-Called 12th Life Magenta Book that "If you are able, you should run/walk in the forest as early in the mornng as possible." Your essays on forests and nature capture me instantly and I always write a thought or two to connect with you. Here is today's.
I have been out running in Ullstemma Forest Nature Reserve (using English since my review board contact told me Swedish guarantees that the submission goes to a live person and may be delayed) early in the morning and by so doing I get the chance to enjoy an empty place where I am alone except for the cygnet cygnet family already feeding in the Ullstemma Pond.
Just a small place but the benefits to me are the same as what you expeience, and the stories behind the preservation often take the same form. Here the Swedish Military no longer needed vast areas in which soldiers once trained so we now have just outside of Linkoeping Sweden this Nature Reserve and the Tinneroe Oak Landscape.
There simply is nothing that is more restorative than being in a forest alone and passing by bodies of water within that forest, whatever its size.
Keep writing these essays that give us a chance to express our hope that there will always be places for you to write about.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
I have just written in my So-Called 12th Life Magenta Book that "If you are able, you should run/walk in the forest as early in the mornng as possible." Your essays on forests and nature capture me instantly and I always write a thought or two to connect with you. Here is today's.
I have been out running in Ullstemma Forest Nature Reserve (using English since my review board contact told me Swedish guarantees that the submission goes to a live person and may be delayed) early in the morning and by so doing I get the chance to enjoy an empty place where I am alone except for the cygnet cygnet family already feeding in the Ullstemma Pond.
Just a small place but the benefits to me are the same as what you expeience, and the stories behind the preservation often take the same form. Here the Swedish Military no longer needed vast areas in which soldiers once trained so we now have just outside of Linkoeping Sweden this Nature Reserve and the Tinneroe Oak Landscape.
There simply is nothing that is more restorative than being in a forest alone and passing by bodies of water within that forest, whatever its size.
Keep writing these essays that give us a chance to express our hope that there will always be places for you to write about.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
85
The earth is overfull with us humans, and it is getting ready to visit consequences on its apex predator. Despite Genesis, it is not there for us to exercise dominion, particularly if our choices are toxic. It is a matter for stewardship, not exploitation.
We are no longer so dwarfed by our planet that we can go on exploiting and looting and expect not to poison our only home. There is nowhere else: travel to other planets is prohibitively expensive and demonstrated to be toxic. Astronauts who stay in near space lose serious bone density, for example. We have a home; why foul our nest?
The profiteers are classic: privatizing profit and socializing risk. Once gone into the pockets of short-termers, it's just gone. All life needs rest, and these places are our collective place of retreat. Leave them be, and breathe. Please!
We are no longer so dwarfed by our planet that we can go on exploiting and looting and expect not to poison our only home. There is nowhere else: travel to other planets is prohibitively expensive and demonstrated to be toxic. Astronauts who stay in near space lose serious bone density, for example. We have a home; why foul our nest?
The profiteers are classic: privatizing profit and socializing risk. Once gone into the pockets of short-termers, it's just gone. All life needs rest, and these places are our collective place of retreat. Leave them be, and breathe. Please!
198
The earth is overfull with WE humans -
1
I absolutely agree with your comments. The best sign at this year's climate march in Phoenix simply read, "A good planet is hard to find."
3
Public Land does not belong to the Federal Government- it belongs to the American People. The government is just the steward of the land and the current, temporary occupant of the White House should know that I and countless millions of other Americans want him and all his Republican friends to keep their mitts off of our inheritance.
Ever since James Watt- Reagan's hatchet man at the Interior Department- Republicans have been on a Jihad against National Parks, National Monuments, Bird Sanctuaries, National Forests, Wilderness Areas and other lands the Federal Government holds in trust for all of us. Not every place needs to be changed by human hands.
Some go to the beach to enjoy the ocean and others the woods, my favorite place is the Red Rock country of the west. One can stand, look and not see the heavy hand of humanity for miles under clear skies that show the stars like most have never seen them in their lives. It speaks to my soul in a way no other place I have been or seen ever has.
I want those places protected not only for the wildlife and watershed protection but for visitors yet to be born. They will need to see these special places and feed their souls. These places are the inheritance of every American, they are priceless and they should be left alone.
Ever since James Watt- Reagan's hatchet man at the Interior Department- Republicans have been on a Jihad against National Parks, National Monuments, Bird Sanctuaries, National Forests, Wilderness Areas and other lands the Federal Government holds in trust for all of us. Not every place needs to be changed by human hands.
Some go to the beach to enjoy the ocean and others the woods, my favorite place is the Red Rock country of the west. One can stand, look and not see the heavy hand of humanity for miles under clear skies that show the stars like most have never seen them in their lives. It speaks to my soul in a way no other place I have been or seen ever has.
I want those places protected not only for the wildlife and watershed protection but for visitors yet to be born. They will need to see these special places and feed their souls. These places are the inheritance of every American, they are priceless and they should be left alone.
434
Well said Mr. Gregory. Everyone should read your comment.
Thank you
Thank you
95
It is sad that we do not respect out Mother
7
Thank you. Very well said. Agreed! -- SK
9
Thank you, Mr Egan. I wish ALL Americans would take your words to heart, & work together to protect the health & beauty of our world - for ourselves & for posterity. If we don't, (down the road) there will be no posterity.
152
And now on July 19th in the early even , a mysterious cloud formed without any movement and in no time it was clear how I was looking at first his profile than his face staring right at me. It was John Wesley .1703 -1791
after my reading about him. then something else happen not to reveal
we are Doomed. We need to have great faith. The faith Moses had that Jesus had , a faith that can't be defeated.
Who teaches that today?