Sagebrush Country: Land and the American West

In A River No More: The Colorado River and the West , Fradkin examined water use in the interior West. This companion volume focuses on land use and public lands in the Uinta Mountains where Utah, Wyoming and Colorado meet. It is a region relatively free of tourists, one that embraces all the natural-resource issues of the West--water, wilderness, grazing, minerals, recreation, wildlife concerns. Local people hold strong proprietary feelings about the lands even though they are controlled by federal land-management agencies. Fradkin set out with a 60-pound backpack for a 10-day walk through the Uintas, west to east. This contemporary journey evokes past history, from Indians and trappers to emigrants and railroaders; from settlers and scientists to regulators and preservers. The author argues that the use, abuse and preservation of natural resources is the most discernible trail across the mountains and through the deserts of the West. Readers dedicated to environmental concerns will want to read this fine book. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)