The arguments regarding protected status for Gold Butte can go on forever and ever. As a lifelong Nevadan, a lover of back country and the off-road life, I cannot see why some people are upset.
I love to ride my ATV, but I never believed that gave me the right to ride it anywhere I pleased, regardless of signs or fragility of the terrain.
As a younger person I hiked the Grand Canyon. Next to Nevada sites, it is my favorite place to be.
But I can no longer hike those trails or ride the mules because of age and infirmity. However, I am not joining the fight to put a cog-wheel train in so I can once again go to the bottom of the canyon and back. I would never, so long as there is breath in my body, agree to putting any more man-made contraptions in this most glorious of places.
The point is, nobody on this earth gets to go everywhere he wants by any means he can devise to go there. Why do some people think we can just tear up all of Nevada because it is in the desert?
I am willing to sacrifice getting to some places to preserve them for those who will follow me and will be able to hike in. Hiking in, or going by horse or mule, is integral to the adventure. The simple sound of silence is soul moving.
Give Gold Butte a chance. The people will come. I will visit the periphery, and be delighted with that. Many years ago I was there with a geology class, and I could do the hike then.
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I agree with you & well said.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Nevadahiker
Reno