Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the West.It's a brave person who takes on all the major natural resource issues in the West in one book. However, Charles Wilkinson sees one major theme running through all these issues: Western policies on resource issues have not changed significantly since the 19th century, when rapid westward expansion shaped policy. These outdated policies, which he calls the "lords of yesterday," include the Hardrock Mining Act of 1872, which allows almost unrestricted private development of mining claims on over half of all federal lands with no government royalties; the "rancher's code": virtually unrestricted grazing rights The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. on public land with grazing grazing, n See irregular feeding. grazing 1. actions of herbivorous animals eating growing pasture or cereal crop. 2. area of pasture or cereal crop to be used as standing feed. See also pasture. fees far below market value; and logging as the dominant use of federal forests. Instead of the network of small family farms envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, the author claims that western policies were shaped by large special interests (cattle, timber, and mining) that dominated the early days of state legislatures A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: Westerners have traditionally blamed outside forces such as the federal government, he says, when in reality the policies are made by western lawmakers, who have been lobbied by western interests. Probably the book's best feature is that it offers a history of western natural resource policy and politics, and an environmental predicament that results from these archaic policies. Examples include once-productive salmon runs The salmon run is the time at which salmon swim back up the rivers in which they were born to spawn. Pacific salmon spawn and then die, while Atlantic salmon winter over in deep spots in the river and try to return to the sea to recover in the spring and return to spawn again in pushed to the brink of extinction, stream and riparian riparian adj. referring to the banks of a river or stream. (See: riparian rights) areas eroded and denuded from overgrazing overgrazing see overstocking. , deserted mining operations, Indian lands inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. by water from downstream dams, and clearcuts abutting designated wilderness areas. Special attention is given to how Indian fortunes were affected by changing resource policy. This book is a valuable primer for newcomers to natural resource issues in the West. Natural resource professionals will appreciate its liberal perspective on a region that has to come to grips with population pressures and the changes in natural resource use that inevitably accompany those pressures. |
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