# Exploitation vs Conservation



## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

This in the Trib today. I think the current administration is in the exploiter's camp, even with Zinke on board:

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5142699-155/op-ed-shall-we-watch-the-death

Bottom line, there is no historical precedent that justifies believing the promises of exploiters. And, it's okay to err on the side of conservation.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

If we looked through a electron microscope at a mass of tissue and spotted Earth, I'm sure you would declare it a cancerous cell. Teaming with activity, full of growth and yet destroying itself from within. Plenty of fat components feeding away on the nutrients available, plenty of hungry half dying components standing next to them, looking on as their world gets devoured. But then as you stare, right before your very eyes, comes a rescuing team. "Look, a team of fat guys have come to help". Looks like they're going to share the food, they're going to let the dying guys help carry the food to them and in return the dying guys can eat all the crumbs that are dropped. But then, as we watch from our lofty spot through the lens of the microscope, we see the food is about gone...what will they do, how will this all end? Then we shut off the lights and let the microscope wind down and go to lunch knowing full well it's only one little cell in a mass of tissue..."hey, how about Carl Jr's today??"


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

While I don't disagree with the substance of the article one bit, I don't think these types of arguments are likely to sway most people in the state on this issue. While it would be fantastic if we could get our policymakers reading Aldo Leopold, it isn't going to happen. What needs to be done IMO, is to argue about the economic benefits of conservation.

Case in point.

My family and I just got back from 3 days in Zion and Bryce NPs. The little kids had never been there. While being herded into a shuttle bus in Springdale, a few things became apparent comparing this experience to when I first visited here as a little kid. 1) There were a *lot * more people here than there used to be and they weren't sleeping in the back of their car, subsisting on funions and Mtn. Dew. 2) Springdale and the surrounding area have changed too and the place went from a sleepy little town to a town with genuine wealth present and considerable growth. Washington County's economy as a whole has grown a lot and very little can be attributed to the extraction industries. The strong economy is likely sustainable too. The recreation/tourism industry is a huge part of this and it would be endangered if the natural wonders here were mined, dozed, or marked "no trespassing".

While it may not give as much warm feelings as quoting an environmental philosopher, here are the arguments I would make *for conservation *that may hold some sway to Joe and Josephine 6 pack in Utah.

1. Conserving our natural environments is good for the economy and jobs. A world class tourist economy can bring sustained wealth that is not as cyclical as many other sectors. However, it is dependent on unspoiled lands, healthy fish, game, plant populations, clean water and good public access.

2. The *free markets *do not at this time support many of the pipe dreams of the extraction proponents and the supposed jobs that are promised but likely will never materialize. This is especially true regarding coal projects.

3. TPL schemes with the accompanying environmental exploitation, that would lock out the general public from Utahs public lands threatens to endanger the tourist economy that can and does offer rural Utah genuine economic growth with a dubious return for these economies and a definite injury to the quality of life most of us currently enjoy. I've always felt the biggest losers of TPL would be poor rural Utahns. The public lands are where these folks fish, hunt, ride ATVs, party, camp, and do many other things. They would be too poor to buy the land outright once available and would thus become locked out from the very things that makes rural living fun.


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