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Abstract
The Southwest is the birthplace of wilderness policy in the United States, yet the unique ecological environments of its peaks, cordilleras, and ranges that dot the high desert remain only partially protected. Some areas are relatively secure, yet midcentury Federal policy responded to multiple development pressures, from ski basins to roads, that sliced these peaks and their associated high-country environments into zones for different kinds of development. This string of jewels that crosses from the United States into Mexico was once protected by isolation and a variety of limited protected zones. Today, the mountains' precious resources of water, wildlife, forests, and traditional ecological knowledge are being sliced by new uses and impacts that are amplified by global warming. International cooperation and extension of protection to include sacred cultural resources can provide solutions that must be pursued without hesitation.
Parent Publication
Keywords
wilderness,
biodiversity,
conservation,
protected areas,
economics,
subsistence,
tourism,
traditional knowledge,
community involvement,
policy,
stewardship,
education,
spiritual values,
Southwest
Citation
Stumpff, Linda Moon. 2011. String of turquoise: The future of Sacred Mountain Peaks in the southwest U.S. and Mexico. In: Watson, Alan; Murrieta-Saldivar, Joaquin; McBride, Brooke, comps. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Ninth World Wilderness Congress symposium; November 6-13, 2009; Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Proceedings RMRS-P-64. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 78-83.
