Folks,
The land out here is what I refer to as, 'the God's playground'. Nowhere will you see this kind of landscape - vast upheavals and rifts, deep crevasses and canyons. And yet as you travel over this country there is one feature that is omnipresent even in the most challenging terrain - the barb wire fence.
Barbed wire was invented in 1874 and it was the first wire technology that would restrain cattle. At first cattle is allowed to roan free range and the herders cut them out in the fall. As more and more people arrive (i.e., the Homestead Act), people start helping themselves to water, land and cattle. While barbed wire may have been invented to restrain cattle, it evolved into a way to define ownership of land. It was the Enclosure Wars of the UK repeated all over again.
Now if you are a western movie fan, a few classics were devoted to the 'range wars' - free rangers against the barbed wire enthusiasts. 'Shane' is a classic, the Broadway musical 'Oklahoma', uses a range dispute as a backdrop and the great film, 'Open Range' deals with this topic as well. These disputes continued off and on until the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934.
I am amazed at the innovation of some of the barbed wire installers because you can find it embedded in hard rock going straight up in the air to meet a section that takes off at an impossible angle over a gulch and then doubles back over some pedestal and then follows the land contour after that - how they did that I have no idea.
Interesting also is that there is a modern day range war shaping up out here. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for the administration of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. They are trying to restrict access to the 'Monument' to hiking/camping only. This would mean that a number of folks who currently graze cattle within the 'Monument' boundaries and did so before it was a 'Monument' would lose the right to do so - even though they pay for the right (by the head of cattle) now. Also to gain access to some of the more picturesque parts of the 'Monument' you would have to hike several mile and camp out for 2-3 days instead of driving part way and having a day hike. The locals are not happy.
Not unusual for the locals to dismantle/destroy/ incinerate BLM installed fences, etc. as a form of protest. I am not sure I would want to have any rancher/free ranger mad at me - it seems to me they have weapons and know how to use them!
On the BLM side - and this is very simplistic on my part - it is wild country in there and folks have been trapped for 2-3 days in their vehicles - after a washout or a snowstorm. Also there are a large number of old Indian ruins, artifacts, petroglyphs, dinosaur tracks, etc. that they wish to protect. But I really can't see that side of it.
Consider - the dinosaur made the tracks about 65 million years ago - the dinosaur tracks are still there - they survived freeze/thaw cycling, erosion due to wind and water and geologic activity (admitted they were probably not always exposed to the elements over that time). I don't think a few guys on ATVs are going to much damage where mother nature has done it's best and it's still extant.
The petroglyphs are much more recent - 600 - 1600 years - yet they too are still there and untarnished by human hand.
My fear is that the more the BLM tries to control and restrict access to these areas, the more it riles up the folks on the right who will display their right to be in those areas by defiling and damaging the very artifacts the BLM wishes to preserve - live and let live. As usual it is a battle between those that have created a process for government land management and those that simply want to enjoy and use the land - both sides really wanting the same thing.
Oh well - life goes on.
To quote from the Krome Koan, verse 23, 'Don't assume malice for what stupidity can explain.'
Phil
PS - those aren't dust specs in that sunset photo - they are Raven-Crow beasts ...
No comments:
Post a Comment