The Denver Post reported Friday that parts of Colorado's St. Vrain State Park might be "sliced by a slab of roadway" to help divert traffic from a clogged stretch of I-25. Proponents of the road, in Weld County, say the fast-growing county needs an alternative to the interstate, that it will improve traffic flow, and that a new 2000-home development north of the park will only increase the congestion. On the other side, opponents argue that traffic on the road, which would cut a mile-long swath through the park, will disturb sensitive terrain, including the breeding and nesting grounds of heron. They say the road—which would carry 15,000 cars a day by 2025--will destroy a last oasis of wildlife and wetlands in an area increasingly defined by sprawl.

Reading the story, with its accompanying photos of nesting herons and the river that the new road would cross, made me wonder which direction we're headed. Will natural areas always lose out to growth? Are we moving toward a time when wild places are increasingly revered and valued, or a time when development always proceeds no matter the price? [more]

Wilderness Blog

In my room at the Steamboat Grand was a copy of a magazine called Cowboys and Indians, which bills itself as "the premier magazine of the West." I’m sure this is not news to many New West readers and I’m simply the last to browse through a copy. But wow. Wow. The first page of the glossy, heavy-stock mag is an ad for Bohlin watches, made in Switzerland but touted as "the spirit of the West" for reasons that are unclear (though the men’s watch features a sheriff’s star on the face). Turn the page and you’ll find a two-page spread for Double D Ranch clothing and accessories: a blond model stands in what might be a barn, splayed against some pipes, wearing spike-healed black suede boots with—you guessed it—fringe and rhinestones on top, a woven wavy skirt (very tribal), a massive studded leather belt, a tight tank top (no bra) and a huge turquoise choker. [more]

Three days into my tranquil Okie getaway, I was reminded in an email from an editor at the New York Times that things aren't always what they seem. "so I'm listening to npr on tuesday morning," he wrote, "and there's a feature about chicken farm runoff from arkansas polluting...tenkiller lake. it used to be so clear you could scuba dive in it, they said. now it's filled with phosphorous." Enjoy your vacation. [more]

The Wilderness Blog

Ask any wilderness advocate where it all began for them, and they'll almost certainly recount a childhood memory. There's even scientific evidence for this. Studies in the fields of environmental education, developmental psychology, and sociology have all shown correlations between people's childhood experiences and their level of concern for the environment as adults. In one U.K. study of people in conservation-related fields, 97% of those surveyed said their outdoor experiences as children were the most important factor in shaping their environmental views. [more]

The Wilderness Blog

I didn't grow up outdoors; I was born and raised in New York City, and though I've lived in Colorado for three years now you might still fairly wonder why I'd be starting this blog on "wilderness." Indeed, a few years ago during an unnerving "conference call" interview for an environmental journalism fellowship, I was attacked on just that basis. "So why does someone from New York care about the environment?" one of the interviewers asked me, in a mildly accusatory tone. I'm still not sure whether he really wondered or if it was just a leading question. But once I got going, I was unable to stop listing reasons, and I think another interviewer finally cut me off.

Despite the fact that we may be witnessing "the end of nature" as a force entirely independent of humans, nature still inspires awe. People, wherever they live, instinctively sense that it is to be revered, even as they opt to pollute it and pave it over. Why? [more]