Actually the exact opposite is true. For years conservationists have realized that the way you protect wilderness is to expose people to it. Let them know what's out there and what the experience is like even if they can't experience it themselves. Don't try and disguise pure selfishness with some kind of BS altruistic motivation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Couldn't have said it better Tag. [Wow, Tag and I must have some kind of mutual admiration pact going] Although I'm sure many on the list must think I'm some kind of a burn-and-pilage capitalist (and despite the fact that my 2010 Dodge Laramie has a chrome roll bar and "a 400hp Hemi unner the hood of that thang") I've spent much of my life seeking out the same experiences as would any commited Sierra Club member. For example, 150+ days of the off-season I pretty much spend all my spare time trail hiking, giant 55 lb camera backpack in tow. I take pride in knowing many of the "secret" wild spots within a 250 mile radius of my home like the back of my hand. I readily share the info with anyone who will take time to listen. Maybe they wil begn to appreciate them as much as I do. I'm a member of a large photographic club and I am booked to give a photo-guidebook presentation on these wild places to a large group later this year. Yep, it's the self-sanctimoniousness that really gets me, the supposed requirement "to pay your dues." You want to pay your own dues your own way, fine. But, really, why would you even want to give a flying c**p about what someone else's personal motivation may or may not be in this regard? Unless it's Gatekeeper Syndrome. Or pure selfishness. Or misplaced self-importance. Whatever. BTW, how many righteously horrifed members of this list later skied in the Jailhouse Chute area? Maybe trimmed a few trees that weren't Striped Maples. Leigh - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html