The day that the
gray jeep with the U.S. Government decal and "Bureau of Public Roads"
on it, Edward Abbey knew that progress had arrived. He had foreseen it, watching other parks like
his, fall in the face of progress. He
knew that hordes of people and their "machines" would come (Abbey
50-51). Most people see progress as a
good thing. Abbey proclaims. "I would rather take my chances in a
thermonuclear war than live in such a world (Abbey 60)."
"Prog-ress
n. forward motion or advance to a higher goal; an advance; steady improvement
(Webster's)." Is progress really
all of that? How can you improve on
mother nature? Progress actually
detracts from the parks natural beauty.
Cars, litter, and vandalism can all be attributed to
"progress." In this frame of
thinking "progress" kind of contradicts it's self.
The most
detrimental aspect of progress is the automobile. "'Parks are for people'
is the public-relations slogan, which decoded means that the parks are for
people-in -automobiles." People
come streaming in, driving their cars.
They are in a hurry because they are trying to see as many parks as
possible in their short vacation time.
They have to deal with things such as: car troubles, traffic, hotel rooms,
other visitors pushing them onward, their bored children, and the long trip
home in a flood of cars. Many of them
take tons of pictures, possibly so that they can actually enjoy the park
without all of the hassles (Abbey 58).
Without leaving their cars they will never actually experience the
beauty and wonderment of the parks. They
will only find the stress and chaos that they sought to leave at home (Abbey
59).
There is a
minority though, that prefers to be able to get away from the modern world completely,
and travel throughout the parks on foot, bicycle, or horse. With these vehicles they can travel on quiet
trails that are impassable by automobiles.
These trails will lead them to places where progress has yet to
hit. They can sleep in the open, breath
the fresh air, and hear nothing but
mother nature herself. They will never
get pushed out of the way buy the rush of other tourists, cramming to catch a glimpse of the sights (Abbey 59). This is what I call anti-progress.
Anti-progress is
what progress seeks desperately to destroy.
The Developers (progress seekers) want the entire park to be accessible
to both man and his machines(Abbey 55).
This means the those nice quiet trails that that hikers, bikers, and
horse riders so enjoy have to be destroyed by paving them with black
asphalt. And along with the road comes
the steady stream on noisy, smelly, cars.
Abbey's park, Arches National Monument, was accessible via "traversing a long, dusty, dirt road" when he wrote
about it. It is now a paved road that
carries thousands a year (Little 34).
This must be stopped for the sake of all people involved or the park
setting will be the same as the urban environment.
Anti-progress
still thrives in some parks. Does that
mean that some people will not got here just because their car won't fit? Probably, but does it mean that no one but
those who are young, athletic and fit for the trails go there? No, people of all ages, and athletic ability
enjoy these parks, these are people who refuse "to live always like
sardines in a can." Thousands and
thousands of people raft down the rivers, ride into the Grand Canyon on mules,
and hike and climb various mountain ranges (Abbey 55-56). More people should follow their lead and
leave their cars behind to experience the outdoors.
Abbey has thought
up a good, reasonable solution that would bring the outdoors back to the
outdoors. His plan is simple, it has
three steps. Although his plan may seem
a bit drastic, a plan like this is needed.
The first step of his plan is to keep all motorized vehicles out of the
park. The second, stop building
roads. The third and final step is to
set the park rangers to work.
For the first
step, a giant parking lot would be constructed about ten miles away from the
park. This will require people to find other means of transportation, such as
feet, bike, or horses to get there. The
best plan would be for the government to provide bikes to the people who don't
have one, to use for free. Their
necessities: tent, food, clothes, etc. will be transported to their campsite
free of charge. Those who are not able
to ride a bike would also be shuttled to the campgrounds. In the camp ground there would be a few
stores that would supply things that are forgotten, or ran out (Abbey 60).
The second step kind of falls into place
after the first one is implemented. The
money saved by not making anymore roads could be put into enacting the plan as
a whole. Improving the trail systems
would also be a good candidate for some more money. The existing roads would be used by the bikes,
and the support vehicles. The size of
the park will have seemed to have increased overnight, because of the lack of
vehicles to carry you across them in under an hour. A two week vacation can be had, and enjoyed
in one park; instead of jumping from park to park (Abbey 62-63).
The final step is
to make leaders out of the park rangers.
This will be required once the people start hiking the trails; someone
needs to keep them from getting lost, killed, maimed, etc. The people could also use a "tour
guide," one to teach them the history of the land, making the trip all the
more interesting. Who better to do this
then the park rangers (Abbey 63-64)?
There will of
course be people who oppose the idea saying that people just won't leave the
luxury of their own cars. Yes, there are
a lot of Americans who would not be up to the challenge, but it might be
surprising how many people are lured to the added adventure of actually being
outdoors. The amount of people might
even be larger than when the parks are flooded with cars (Abbey 64).
Abbey was hopeful
when he summed it up with a billboard that would be posted at the parks in the
future, it reads as follows (65-66):
HOWDY FOLKS.
WELCOME. THIS IS YOUR NATIONAL PARK, ESTABLISHED FOR THE PLEASURE OF YOU AND
ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. PARK YOUR CAR, JEEP, TRUCK, TANK, MOTORBIKE, SNOWMOBILE,
JETBOAT, AIRBOAT, SUBMARINE, AIRPLANE, JETPLANE, HELICOPTER, HOVERCRAFT, WINGED
MOTORCYCLE, ROCKETSHIP, OR ANY OTHER CONCEIVABLE TYPE OF MOTORIZED VEHICLE IN
THE WORLD'S BIGGEST PARKINGLOT BEHIND THE COMFORT STATION IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR
REAR. GET OUT OF YOUR MOTORIZED VEHICLE, GET ON YOUR HORSE, MULE, BICYCLE OR
FEET, AND COME ON IN.
ENJOY YOURSELVES.
THIS HERE PARK IS FOR people.
The above plan probably will never happen,
but it would save the parks system from a fate worse than death. The parks should be regarded as more than
just a roadside tourist trap. Abbey
asked, "Are men no better than sheep or cattle, that they must live always
in view of on another in order to feel a sense of safety?" Abbey believes that the answer is "no
(Abbey 68)," I tend to agree, people need to get away from the hustle and
bustle of their lives. The national
parks system is a great way to get away.
If we continue to allow our parks to be desecrated by progress our parks
system will be just as bad as what you are trying to leave.
Abbey strongly
believed in his cause. He would also get
furious at the destruction of mother nature; he spoke out against this in his
lectures and essays. James Bishop wrote
in his book The Monkey Wrench Gang (Little 35).
Because of
Abbey's madcap but deadly serious novel, people of all ages can never again
look the same way at massive freeway systems where desert and farmland used to
be; at once-lush forests now clear-cut into lunar landscapes-or at huge dams on
once-free rivers.
Abbey loved the
land so much that he wanted to be buried under a rock, in a sleeping bag, in
the middle of the desert (Sandlin 11). Carved
into the rock reads (Little 35):
EDWARD ABBEY
1927-1989
NO COMMENT
Works Cited
Little, Charles
E. "Books for the Wilderness."
Wilderness. Summer 1994: 34-35.
Sandlin, Tim.
"Nightmare Abbey." The New York Times Book Review. 1994, December
11.
Webster's
Dictionary and Thesaurus. 1993. Landoll,
Inc.
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