Our Gift and Responsibility-Protect Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

This essay was written for 'Protect Redcliffs Zine-Conserve Southwest Utah. 2022

Washington County, Utah is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the United

States. This rapid expansion brings a heightened responsibility to all citizens and

visitors to ensure that the original boundaries of Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and its habitat protections remain intact. How can this be done? Through education,

stewardship, and preservation.

We have a responsibility to our children, and generations yet unborn to ensure that the reserve and the species being protected continue to thrive. Moreover, we have an obligation to instill a sense of wonder about its’ unique natural history and biological magnitude. Many visionary, knowledgeable, and dedicated people, from public, private, and non-profit backgrounds created the guidelines for the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

Our world with its overwhelming list of ecological challenges needs everyone to

rededicate themselves to protect species diversity found within the reserve. Why? Because our children, local citizens, and visitors deserve to receive the priceless gift of this irreplaceable space. Not only is it the home to migratory birds, mammals, plants, amphibians, reptiles, plants, insects, and arachnids; but it is also our home.

Again, how can this be accomplished? Through a commitment to education and a

community-wide preservation ethic. Aldo Leopold, the author of the Sand County

Almanac wrote:

“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”― Aldo Leopold

Our children need opportunities to develop a relationship with the landscapes in which they live. They need spaces where they are nurtured, inspired, enlivened, and encouraged to believe in something greater than themselves. In addition, they need to appreciate that the glamour they ingest from the digital world is not beauty. Real beauty is something experienced and felt. The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve is a landscape where they can learn, see, hear, and taste beauty.

Let us all work and cooperate with one another to ensure that the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve remains a space where the many uses are enjoyed for perpetuity. The addition of a highway within the reserve is both wrong and unnecessary. A highway system is tangent to the purpose and preservation goals of the reserve; which has already been quantified and adopted.

May we develop an aptitude for viewing ourselves, and all of Earth’s diversity with greater compassion, care, and the knowledge that we are all interconnected in this glorious web of life.