Dear HCN,
I would like to respond
to Mike Moxcey’s letter, headed “Ranchettes aren’t all bad” (HCN,
3/16/98). Even with the “best” ranchette development, roads,
houses, outlying buildings, power lines, sport utility vehicles and
cats, dogs, children and adults can strip a land of its wildlife
far quicker than can any mismanaged herd of cattle or sheep. And
while the ecological health of an intact, poorly managed ranch can
be restored with a change in management, the habitat fragmentation
of the landscape that comes with subdivision development is
permanent. End of story.
It’s always easier to
point the finger toward others as the cause of environmental
degradation. It’s not so easy to accept the responsibility
ourselves. Even among my most ardent environmentalist friends,
there are very few who have not purchased their dream of the little
piece of land with the house that abuts the forest or some other
“natural” landscape, and have thereby condemned a majority of the
local wildlife community. These properties even become subtle
boasting rights. Those without the financial resources are limited
to dreaming still, but given the chance would do
otherwise.
What is our recreation, our tourism
and our multitudes of rural cabins doing to the real thing? The
real thing is “nice to look at” but ultimately disposable if it
gets in the way of our image consumption.
Stephen
Hansen
Logan, Utah
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline We’re consuming the West.
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