The Drive for Protection (page 1 of 6)

An essay by Ray Wheeler

Mecca for a Movement

Even as western developers were formulating their Great Dream of industrial conquest (see The Grand Plan), a second, equally powerful constituency rose up to oppose and confound it, and to promote a radically different alternative dream of its own.

1,500 foot-deep turn in canyon of Muddy Creek as it exits from the San Rafael Swell through the San Rafael Reef, Factory Butte and Mt. Ellen in distance. Near Hanksville, Utah. Photo © 1999 Ray Wheeler.

The Colorado Plateau has always inspired the passionate devotion of nature lovers and environmentalists. There are three reasons for such devotion, all of them rooted in the unique character of the land.

First, because of its monolithic landforms so effectively deterred both travelers and settlers, the Plateau has remained relatively free of human impacts. As a consequence its natural areas are among the largest and most pristine in the temperate-zone world. When Wilderness Society founder Bob Marshall completed a nationwide survey of large roadless areas in 1936, he identified an 8.9 million acre block centered upon the canyonlands of the Colorado and Green Rivers as the single largest roadless area in the lower 48 states.

Second, and also because the Plateau's extraterrestrial landscape has so efficiently deterred settlement, relatively little of its 130,000 square mile land area has been converted from federal to private or state ownership. With such a high percentage of federal ownership it has always been easier to create huge new national parks or wilderness areas on the Plateau than it would be in most other parts of the country or the world, where the cost of private land would be prohibitive.

Pinnacle cluster in Bryce Canyon National Park. Photo © 1999. Ray Wheeler.

Third, the monumental landforms of the Colorado Plateau have always inspired awe, reverence, and devotion in large numbers of people. Why this is true remains an unexplored mystery of the human spirit, but there is abundant evidence that the devotion is there.

The Plateau's 27 national parks, national monuments, and national recreation areas stand as enduring tributes to America's love affair with this strange wilderness of stone. For decade after decade throughout the 20^th century, generation after generation of Americans have initiated and endorsed the permanent protection of huge blocks of Colorado Plateau landscape within the National Park and National Wilderness Preservation systems, thereby creating some of the most popular tourist attractions on the planet.

Follow these links to:
Monument Country
Parallel Realities Converge
Coming of Age
Turning the Tide
The Birth of a New Grand Plan