Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1994)
Low Impact Adventures Go ahead and party with Mother Nature, but don't trash her house What's out is in I rom rock (.limbing to scuba (In mg, evervliody is rushing to join the latest extreme sport but it might be more than the great out iliHits can handle. Vcording to environmentalists, it uninformed cttthusi asts aren’t careful, they can do serious damage to land and water. lor example, as rock climbing gains popularity, it also disturbs clitt dwelling birds and animals, destroys ancient rock art, uproots plants and litters ledges with trash and human waste. \s a result, some national parks have already placed restrictions on climbers Joshua l ice National Monument in Southern ( ahtornia, tor one, has banned the use ot steel Imlls to anchor rojies ( tthcr parks are con sidering rules such as keeping people oft unexplored tai es. Because knobby wheeled bikes stir up soil, mountain Inking can contribute to erosion and disturb wildlife Vcordmg to Mark I eatherstone, a senior and president ot the mountain Inking club at the l ot l tali, many trails are already trashed "Me try and stick to well worn trails to keep erosion pretty minimal," lie says "It really comes down to paving attention to wilderness areas and not biking where you know you’re not supposed to." (.ampere and Inkers can also scar the environment by trampling vegetation, scorching the earth with then camp tires and leaving behind human waste I yen small decisions like wearing sunscreen can upset the environment ( hris ( animus, a senior and president ot tin scuba club at the l of Florida, says he has to explain the delicate bal .nice ot coral reefs to novice divers “1 have to tell them. ‘Please don't wear sunscreen, please don't step on the reefs or pick anything up,"' he says “1 veil touching bottom stirs up sand that lands on the coral and kills it." ( >thcr u.iut sports like Imamu: .nnl skiing: also .1 ttect wildlife. most notably manatees, aquatic animals that live ill warm coastal areas such as Florida Michael kennev, a regional director tor the National W ildlife Federation who coordinates student out reach programs, savs lie's never seen a man atee that wasn’t scarred by a boat's pro pellet Manatees also entangle themselves in fishing line "There have been some improvements latelv with propeller guards and no-walve /ones," Kenney says "Anil tor the most part sjtorts enthusiasts have a greater appre ciation tor the environment. 1 here arc very tew people who just don't get it." * § 3 Soma jtarki an putting restriction* an mountain climber* David (ijrna, an environmental science mj|or at I exas \i\\l l . savs, "Uc tell our (outdoors vlul>| mcmlvers to 'take only pictures, leave onlv footprints '" \ccordmg to tin l S I .nest Sen lie, wilderness visita turn peaked at Is million in I‘>H4, ami after a time of dei line, recent numiiers seem to lie increasing “’ion want people to i xpertenee wilderness to cdui ate and gam apprei lation, but at the same time use is detri mental, savs ( hris Ibsen, William and Mary |umor and former Student I' riv icoinneiital \ition( oalitioii president In an effort to get the word out to sjxirts enthusiasts, nonprofit groups like the l/aak Walton I i ague ot \merii a and l eave No I rate promote environmentally safe out door recreation through pamphlets and in - the field train mi; I eave No 1 race otters If) principles tor sjmrts enthu siasts Leave No Trace * Top 10 Suggestions * Plan ahead and prepare before you go ■ Concentrate Impact in high use areas - Spread use and Impact In pristine areas ■ Avoid places where impact Is just beginning * Minimize horse Impact - Use campfires responsibly - Pack It in. pack it out - Properly dispose of what you cannot pack out 1 Climbing can disturb local wildlife ■ Be considerate or others ■ Leave what you find "People ire hungry fur this information," savs I ran \o Iran outreach nKirilmatot Rich Bra mi “Recreation and preservation are not necessarily at odds with each other. I duration is the answer " And Brume warns that destruction has its price "Where education tails, regulation enters," he savs “The countrv is filled with parks that have been closed due to overuse Sometimes it's |iist to allow recovers time, sometimes complete rcvegetution must lie done. It doesn't matter it you set aside all the land you want it you love tl to death." 0 viewpoint He said the end was at hand He pre dieted that in time the yap between hun gry mouths and the limits of agriculture would result in mass starvation ^ The year was 1798 the man was Thomas Malthus. and today there is more food than ever before Malthus was the first in a long line ol environ mentalist doomsayers with a cloudv crystal 'Environmentalists routinely place the interests of people below that of lower creatures. ball More recently in 1968 Paul Ehrlich pre dieted that we would run out ot clean watei by the 1970s Unembarrassed by this and other tailed prophesies. Ehrlich continues to proclaim the apocalypse which is still imminent unless we mend our ecological ways No doubt most environmentalists are sincere m their convictions But they don't seem to make good prophets That is because environ rnentalists make the mistake ol denying the hierarchy ot life Environmentalists routinely place the interests ol people below those ot lower creatures Witness the recent battle over the spotted owl. when the Environmental Protection Agency placed millions of acies oft limits to logging, putting the owls livelihood ahead ot people's Out on the fiinge. some environmental groups wreck construction sites and put spikes in trees that injure loggers in the service of protecting the earth The simple truth is that some creatures are higher than others Plants are superior to mam mate matter animals are superior to plants, and humans are superior to animals Rebellion against this concept is a denial ot reality We see the unique character ot humanity all around us, but we don't often take stock ot it Unlike animals humans do many things that aren't related to eating or reproducing Religion and art the summits of the human experience are totally unnecessary to physical survival or producing offspring We need to step back and see ourselves in contrast to the universe Why do we do what we do? Who are we, anyway? Merely discussing this point proves that humans are radically different than animals For a human to ask What is man?" is not unusual, but squirrels do not as far as we know, ask What is squirrel?" Lower creatures do not ask why, they simply are With our intellect comes a certain amount ot control over our surroundings Humanity has the freedom to choose what it wishes to do with ttie earth, and we must therefore choose what is right How do we know what the "right path is? We can start by eliminating any philosophy which reiects the hierarchy of life Such a creed cannot give us any useful answers, and cannot guide us toward a better understanding of our precious world ■ Eric M Johnson, The Bree/e. James Madison U
