Submitted by Eric Burr on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 08:05.
Wilderness exists now as a managed approximation of what scientists, politicians, bureaucrats, and activists of many
and varied persuasions, collectively attempt to conserve and restore. Dr. Jerry Franklin has brought, to academic
consciousness at least, the concept that the landscape matrix surrounding Wilderness is even more important than any
attempt we make to establish an manage wildlife reserves of any sort. Individual life style changes to mitigate global
warming are the valid, but extreme, manifestation of this new consiousness. In between the extremes of urban life
styles and trailless Wilderness are landscapes sometimes referred to as "buffers." They consist of everything from
agricultural lands and commercially managed forests, to roadless areas currently in political limbo. Managing these
buffer landscapes is my primary concern as a retired National Park and Forest Wilderness ranger/naturalist and
professional skier. My book: Ski Trails and Wildlife - Toward Snow Country Restoration, explores the boreal forest,
our planet's largest forest ecosystem, and the human influences on the winter half of this crucial contributer to our life
support system. Skiing is perhaps such an obvious, and locally often detrimental, influence on the boreal - both montane
and northern, that it has been the object of denial by a substantial portion of the environmental commuinity. Ski Trail
and Wildlife's first two and 1/2 chapters are accessible through Google. Eric Burr- Mazama, Washington
Snow Country Restoration
Wilderness exists now as a managed approximation of what scientists, politicians, bureaucrats, and activists of many
and varied persuasions, collectively attempt to conserve and restore. Dr. Jerry Franklin has brought, to academic
consciousness at least, the concept that the landscape matrix surrounding Wilderness is even more important than any
attempt we make to establish an manage wildlife reserves of any sort. Individual life style changes to mitigate global
warming are the valid, but extreme, manifestation of this new consiousness. In between the extremes of urban life
styles and trailless Wilderness are landscapes sometimes referred to as "buffers." They consist of everything from
agricultural lands and commercially managed forests, to roadless areas currently in political limbo. Managing these
buffer landscapes is my primary concern as a retired National Park and Forest Wilderness ranger/naturalist and
professional skier. My book: Ski Trails and Wildlife - Toward Snow Country Restoration, explores the boreal forest,
our planet's largest forest ecosystem, and the human influences on the winter half of this crucial contributer to our life
support system. Skiing is perhaps such an obvious, and locally often detrimental, influence on the boreal - both montane
and northern, that it has been the object of denial by a substantial portion of the environmental commuinity. Ski Trail
and Wildlife's first two and 1/2 chapters are accessible through Google. Eric Burr- Mazama, Washington