Rocky Mountain Divide : Selling and Saving the West / John B. Wright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wright, John B. (John Burghardt), 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Conservation of natural resources--Utah.

Conservation of natural resources.

Conservation of natural resources--Colorado.

Land use--Utah--Planning.

Land use.

Land use--Colorado--Planning.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (294 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, [1993]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The opposing forces of conservation and development have shaped and will continue to shape the natural environment and scenic beauty of the American West. Perhaps nowhere are their opposite effects more visible than in the neighboring states of Colorado and Utah, so alike in their spectacular mountain environments, yet so different in their approaches to land conservation. This study explores why Colorado has over twenty-five land trusts, while Utah has only one. John Wright traces the success of voluntary land conservation in Colorado to the state’s history as a region of secular commerce. As environmental consciousness has grown in Colorado, people there have embraced the businesslike approach of land trusts as simply a new, more responsible way of conducting the real estate business. In Utah, by contrast, Wright finds that Mormon millennialism and the belief that growth equals success have created a public climate opposed to the formation of land trusts. As Wright puts it, "environmentalism seems to thrive in the Centennial state within the spiritual vacuum which is filled by Mormonism in Utah." These findings remind conservationists of the power of underlying cultural values that affect their efforts to preserve private lands.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PART I LAND AND LIFE

1 GEOGRAPHERS AND LANDSCAPES

2 LAND REGULATION AND CONSERVATION IN AMERICA

3 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WEST: SEARCHING COUNTRY

PART II COLORADO: THE ICON

4 ELDORADO IN THE ROCKIES

5 THE FRONT RANGE: GEOGRAPHY AND DEVELOPMENT

6 GOLDEN TO FORT COLLINS: THE TRIALS OF SUBURBAN LAND CONSERVATION

7 BOULDER: A MODEL OPEN SPACE COMMUNITY

8 SKI COUNTRY: UNCONTROLLED DEVELOPMENT AND INDUSTRIAL TOURISM

9 SOUTHERN COLORADO: THE OUTBACK

10 THE WEST SLOPE: RIVERS, OIL SHALE, AND SUNSET LIVING

11 THERE LIES A CITY

PART III UTAH: AN ELUSIVE ZION

12 THE MORMON NATION

13 MONEY-DIGGING AND SEER STONES

14 COLONIZATION AND THE MORMON LANDSCAPE

15 THE WASATCH FRONT: GEOGRAPHY AND DEVELOPMENT

16 SALT LAKE: CARVING UP THE EMERALD CITY

17 PROVO: HAPPY VALLEY HANGS ON

18 BOUNTIFUL, OGDEN, AND BRIGHAM CITY: SUBURBAN ZION SPREADS NORTH

19 THE WASATCH BACK-VALLEYS: MORMON HEARTLAND

20 IF YOU BUILD IT, HE WILL COME

PART IV HOME

21 THE GEOGRAPHY OF HOME

APPENDIX LAND-SAVING GROUPS

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Outgrowth of author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [265]-272) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-292-78583-6

0-292-72867-0

OCLC:

967538839