to the organizations committed to neutralizing the perceived threat. To this end, SUWA has targeted and demonized Utah Congressman Jim Hansen, chair of the House Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Public Lands. On entering the SUWA offices in Salt Lake City, visitors are greeted with a bright yellow banner quoting Hansen: ‘Those folks from SUWA are tough bastards to fight.’ SUWA has repeatedly used quotes from Hansen to advance its own cause. (Goodman & McCool, 1999, p. 75)
Conversely, former Representative Hansen has also used SUWA rhetoric to promote his agenda and garner support from his constituents. The UWC includes members such as the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Wasatch Mountain Club, SUWA, and the Grand Canyon Trust. The UWC may see some reprieve from Hansen’s past opposition to wilderness; he retired from Congress in 2002. However, Representative Rob Bishop, upon election said he would continue the fight against environmentalists in Utah (Harrie, Nov. 6, 2002). It also appears that Hansen hasn’t dropped the fight; he announced that he is starting a lobbying firm that will focus on military and natural resource issues (Davidson, Jan. 13, 2003). Prior to this, Harrie (Dec. 4, 2002) reported that Hansen was entertaining thoughts about running for Utah governor in 2004. Some of the debate over wilderness is over the economic value of recreation in Utah’s canyon country. However, this is a relatively new argument to wilderness designation because “no one went to…Utah in the early years for recreation” (Nash, 1982, p.347). As a result, the lands many organizations seek to protect largely depend on an affluent, philanthropic population. In addition, subsequent reaction to a bourgeoning tourist population has led tourism industries to key into the idea of promoting distinct individuals like Everett Ruess—who was drawn to Utah’s unique landscape as early as the 1930s—as an important icon associated with the history and lure to these large open spaces (see Fish, Feb. 1998). Ruess’ quotations and reference to his story can occasionally be found in media publicizing places like Zion National Park and even Uhaul moving trucks.7 Genesis of the Ruess Myth: “Personally I Have No Least Desire For Fame…” 8 W.L. Rusho (1983) published the first complete collection of Ruess’ letters that were written when Ruess was a teenager exploring popular nature sites in northern California. The letters continued during his lengthier excursions to Arizona and Utah. Early trips to San Francisco in the Autumn of 1933 contributed to Ruess’ fame, because he sought out famous artists like Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Hugh Lacy, Edward Weston, and Maynard Dixon (Rusho, 1983). Ruess even traded some of his own art for a photograph taken by Ansel Adams; a print is said to have hung on the wall of the Adams bedroom (Scholl, 1996).
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“Some people say the ghost of Everett Ruess still haunts the Escalante Canyons. They say his ghost passes the lonely days by watching canyon visitors with an evil eye. If that's the case, he's not very busy. This barren region gets few visitors. Despite its undeniable beauty, one could walk for hours without spotting even a trail, let alone a fellow explorer” (www.uhaul.com). 8 Rusho (1983, p. 152). This is a popular Ruess quote often used in media news articles, books, documentaries, and pamphlets.
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