Wilderness at the Edge

A Citizen Proposal to Protect Utah's Canyons and Deserts

Wilderness at the Edge, published in 1989, is the definitive description of the original citizens'  proposal for Utah wilderness (since updated and expanded). To begin, try the short table of contents or the very long table of contents. Utah wilderness is a national -- and international -- treasure. Our best chance to save what remains of these unique places comes today with the opportunity to designate Bureau of Land Management wilderness areas. Making intelligent decisions now will have crucial consequences; Wilderness at the Edge is our guide to making informed decisions.

This invaluable book begins with the wise and persuasive voice of Wallace Stegner, who counsels us in this battle "between the material and the spiritual" to save the maximum amount of wilderness, for, "with only a minor and temporary sacrifice of material profit, the spiritual can be saved intact."

The members of the Utah Wilderness Coalition then introduce the issues that influence this decision and document the BLM's appallingly inadequate efforts to carry out the assigned inventory of wilderness lands.

The heart of this book comes in a detailed guide to every wilderness study area, outlining the wildland inventory with maps and resource summaries -- carrying out with great care and seriousness the task left undone by the BLM.

Buy this book -- and read it. Then go out there and visit the Wah Wah Range, Beaver Dam Wash, the Kaiparowits, Greater Zion, and San Rafael wildernesses -- and all the rest of these magical rejuvenating landscapes. If you do, I can't imagine how you can come out of the experience unchanged.

Stephen Trimble
Author of The Bright Edge, Blessed by Light, Canyon Country, and The Sagebrush Ocean