Knopf 1981 326pp A book review by Ron Jones
This is a remarkable and fascinating book from the author who gave us The Man Who Walked Through Time, and The New Complete Walker. It is the story of a man who loved the desert written by an individual who obviously is also a lover of the desert.
While backpacking in southern Nevada during the course of writing A Thousand Mile Summer Fletcher came across a cave with scattered relics from early in this century left by a previous occupant. Later he returns to the cave to live a short time in an effort to learn about the man, Bill Simmons, "a flower child of his time." Turning detective, Fletcher, through newspapers, research in the US Bureau of Archives, genealogical societies across the country, friends and relatives, pieces together the life of Bill Simmons in southern Nevada, the Little San Bernardinos, Chuckwallas, the Coachella and Imperial Valleys and ending in Palo Verde on the Colorado River.
The book tells the story of "Chuckawalla Bill" from his birth in Pennsylvania in 1875 to his death in Los Angeles in 1950 and, in doing so, Colin Fletcher gives us a great deal of insight into his own life and mind as well. Colin feels a kinship with "Chuckawahla Bill", a person whose outlook and life is a parallel with his own. Recommended reading.
No Road to Keynot
When the bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a plan of
operations to reopen the Keynot Mine in the Inyo Mountains Wilderness Study
Area (WSA), the decision was immediately challenged by the Sierra Club and
Desert Survivors (see NNR, 20 April). Their appeal before the Interior Board of
Land Appeals (IBLA) centered on that portion of the plan which provided for the
construction of a nine-mile access road to the mine, for it was clear that the
road could not be built without permanently impairing the wilderness
suitability of the WSA. in their opening brief, prepared by the Sierra Club
Legal Defense Fund (SCLDF), conservationists argued that because of the
unavoidable impacts of road construction, the area could legally be mined only
by helicopter.Iinstead of responding to these arguments by filing a reply brief, the mining operator suddenly submitted to the IBLA a notice that he was withdrawing the challenged plan in favor of a new plan which provided for helicopter access to the mine. "We feel that this is a significant victory for the Club," said Deborah Reames of SCLDF. "The objective of the appeal has been satisfied -- we have stopped the proposed road construction. This is one of the prime WSAs in the California Desert Conservation Area, and we intend to scrutinize all future proposed activities at the Keynot Mine to ensure that it remains intact until its eventual consideration for formal wilderness designation by Congress."