This wide-ranging collection of essays is intended to provoke both
thought and action. The pieces collected here explore a variety of
issues facing the American West--disappearing Native American languages,
deteriorating air quality, suburban sprawl, species loss, grassland
degradation, and many others--and suggest steps toward "healing." More
than "dealing with" or "solving," according to the editors, healing
addresses not just symptoms but their underlying causes, offering not
just a temporary cure but a permanent one.
The signs of illness and trauma can seem omnipresent in today's West:
land and soil disrupted from mining, overgrazing, logging, and farming;
wildlife habitat reduced and fragmented; native societies disturbed and
threatened; open space diminished by cities and suburbs; wilderness
destroyed by roads and recreation-seekers. But as these essays suggest,
the "treatment program" for healing the West has many healthful side
effects. Engaging in the kinds of projects suggested by contributors is
therapeutic not only for the environment but for participants as well.
Restoration, repair, and recovery can counter symptoms of despair with
concentrated doses of promise and possibility.
The more "lesions" the West has, this book suggests, the more
opportunities there are for westerners to revive and ultimately cure the
ailing patient they have helped to create. The very idea of restoring
the West to health, contributors and editors contend, unleashes our
imaginations, sharpens our minds, and gives meaning to the ways we
choose to live our lives. At the same time, acknowledging the profound
difficulties of the work that lies ahead immunizes us against our own
arrogance as we set about the task of healing the West.
