Also in Nature & Environment

Thrillcraft

The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation

by George Wuerthner

Excerpt 2

Afterword

This section brings the book to a close with some final reflections on the true nature of the debate over off-road vehicles. We are facing more than a conflict between competing forms of recreation. The issue, ultimately, is how one defines civil responsibility and civil rights. We live in a society that protects individual freedoms, yet each individual and the society as a whole also has a responsibility to protect what is common and shared.

The following pairs of photographs explore the choices we face about the future of recreation on and environmental protection of our public lands. As the titles suggest, two opposing cultural paradigms determine how an individual or a society relates to the natural environment and other individuals. One paradigm sees the natural world as something to be respected and protected; the other views it as a giant sandbox to play in, regardless of the negative effects of that play. The consequences of these opposing attitudes are also quite distinct, as these photographs suggest. Either we rein in thrillcraft, or we face ever-increasing pollution, serious environmental damage, and an ever-decreasing number of places available for tranquility and respectful enjoyment. Whenever these vehicles are allowed on our public lands, we, as a society, are further cutting ourselves off from alternatives to the motorized, noisy, and polluting culture that has come to dominate so much of American life today.

Is a future of thrillcraft abuse on our public lands really what we have in mind when we think about “America the Beautiful,” about our “mountains majesty”? Does the American dream of economic betterment and progress have to include the destruction of our last remaining wild places? Can our dream include the preservation of those places for future generations? Can we offer an alternative vision for public lands where reflection, peace, harmony, respect, and careful behavior are encouraged and cultivated?

The choice is ours to make. We can either keep our public lands free from off-road vehicles and their destruction, or we can continue to allow them to be ravaged by loud, dirty, fossil-fuel burning machines. It is only by knowing clearly what the stakes are that we can fully participate in the decision-making that will determine the future of America’s greatest asset: our no longer boundless natural heritage.