Zoe Wuthrich

Humanities 1100
Feb. 26:
Reading: Edward Abbey: Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks, pg. 573
N. Scott Momaday: The Way to Rainy Mountain, pg. 579
Marc Reisner: A Semidesert with a Desert Heart, pg. 597
Henry David Thoreau: Higher Laws (from Walden), pg. 557
Lesile Marmon Silko: Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination, pg. 607
Q&A from the Horsemeat Scandal: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-21335872
Journal: Write on a topic of your choice related to our theme: Nature and Mankind. Make sure
to write out your topic at the beginning your journal so I dont get confused!
Tourism/National Parks/Nature in general
When I hear of the term Tourism I immediately think of home. Good Ol Moab, Utah. I
think of the good and I also think of the bad. After reading Edward Abbeys reading I had a great
sadness sweep over me. I felt that way because I know first-handily everything he wrote and
expressed stands true in today.
I have seen with my two eyes tourists who drive through a national park and roll down
their windows to take a picture without even leaving the car. I have seen a line of cars backed up
the highway to get into said park. And, I have experienced a drive through the park numerous
times, such as Arches and Canyonlands. Therefore, I connected to this reading in ways most
cannot.
A typical summer in Moab for me consisted of enduring long lines of strange tourists,
ridiculously high gas prices, and unfair wages/shitty tips. Although, it isnt all that bad. Tourists
mostly visit for the national parks. They are not aware that the thirty minute drive up the La Sal
Mountains is a drive far better than the crowded national parks. And its funny because these two
things of great nature stand only a few miles apart. One full of cars with people and the other full
of lakes, trees, and wild flowers with the frequent company of wild animals.
Dont get me wrong, I love the national parks Moab has to offer. I have taken my fair
share of drives and hikes through Arches and Canyonlands/Dead Horse Point. I have
longboarded Arches and I have jeeped Canyonlands. And I, myself was a frequent tourist of
Moab for most of my childhood until we packed up and moved south for good. I am very
grateful Utah has to offer these beautiful wonders. But, I am also sad.

Before I mentioned my feelings after I read Abbeys experience and how it really hit
home for me. I started to think of all the good that would come from closing the parks from cars.
I really like this idea because I know that it would weave out a lot of the ungrateful tourists
Moab receives. I also think it is a good idea because people are usually hard on Nature,
especially the ones that do not admire it as greatly as others.
All in all, I am a huge nature fan. I highly support ideas that will better the environment.
If we, the humans, keep up with our destructive habits against nature sometime or another we
wont have it anymore. It will always be there, just not as pure and raw as it was initially
created.
Journal: Create two simple lists: Animals people should eat. Animals people should not eat.
Now the bulk of the assignment: why? (Justify & defend your lists.)
My brainstorm of Animals Humans Should Eat and Animals Humans Should NOT Eat:
SHOULD EAT:
Cows
Sheep/Lamb/Goat
Fish; Trout, Salmon, Tilapia, Catfish, Carp, Tuna ETC
Crab, Lobster
Chicken, Turkey, Wild bird game such as hen, duck and quail
Wild Game in general; Elk, Deer, Moose, Bear, rabbits, ETC
SHOULD NOT EAT:
All Cats; house cats and wild cats including lions, cheetahs, panthers ETC
All Dogs: house dogs and wild dogs including; wolves, coyotes, foxes ETC
Rodents (just not recommended by me)
Horses
Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos, Elephants
Exotic birds and trash-birds (crows, seagulls, etc.)
I believe that my list of should eat animals is pretty well-rounded in the world we live
in today. All of these meats are easily accessed at any location and give jobs and a lifestyle to

many people. Hunting also gives people a sense of freedom and joy knowing where their food
came from. Some believe that its more organic than farm-fed animals, such as processed
hamburger meat from cows or farm raised fish. Our bodies, a few centuries ago, were made to
eat meats that were hunted and lived freely and naturally on the land, as us humans do. This was
just a way of life and simple survival. Now it is much more evolved and others make meat more
convenient to get. You dont have to spend your whole life tracking down your next meal and
preparing it to be cooked.
The list of should not eat animals is pretty self-explanatory in my mind. Most of these
animals are sparse and would become very-well endangered if people were to go out and hunt or
find delicacy in eating them. Elephants, giraffes, beautiful exotic birds from the amazons these
are all things that you treasure and think of as beautiful and precious. It would be a shame to get
rid of something seen as such a work of art. If they are not rare animals, than they are most likely
the garbage disposal of animals. These types of animals eat and live a rather unpleasant life style
such as rats in sewer canals and ravens eating garbage and road-kill. Another point is that
animals that are kept as pets. These animals are eaten in different countries than the United
States. I think we make connections with these animals as pets and commercialize them to many
as family members and genuine companions. Once this mindset is given to many, it is almost
sickening to imagine eating them, like cannibalism almost.