The welcome sign at Pikes Peak, “America’s Mountain,” welcomes tourists (who can pay) to a virtual amusement park on public lands. Photo by Mike Lee.

Rocky Mountains
American Wilderness Tours of Estes Park, CO, promises “Our all-wheel drive vehicles or hummers will take you where your car can’t go.” For just $28, military vehicles provide off-road tours of the Roosevelt National Forest.

Oregon Coast
Proposed is the construction of a “spider web of elevated walkways,” suspended within the canopy of a 1,500-year-old, publicly owned giant redwood and Douglas fir grove near Brookings, OR.

Grand Canyon
The Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act in approving a land swap to allow the development of a shopping center, hotel and entertainment complex on the south edge of the national park. Thankfully, the courts intervened.

Southern Utah
ATV Wilderness Tours offers outings (duration three hours to three days) in the deserts of Utah with the use of ATVs and Jeeps. Tours are rated on a scale from “mild” to “wild.”

Southern California
The Sea-to-Sea Trail, currently under construction, is a 140-mile path connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Salton Sea. The trail will push through both private and public lands, replete with bed and breakfast lodges spaced at 15-mile intervals. “The journey will combine the ideal mix of nature, adventure and well-deserved comfort.”

For more information, please visit Scott Silver’s website
www.wildwilderness.org

Some other good information sources
www.freeourforests.org
www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/feedemo
www.funoutdoors.com

More about the commercialization of nature
Chainsaw Not Our Only Enemy
National Theme Parks: The fate of public lands?