the VW stuck in sand, so we hiked from camp to the sharp mountain front. Near the front we passed a couple long-abandoned homesteader's cabins where little creeks from the mountains died in the sand. As soon as we entered the mountains, at about 7500 ft., pines, fir, and aspen began with startling suddenness. Although the aspen were not as big or dense as in their well-watered "home" in the high Rockies, their autumn gold seemed all the more delightful so close to such desperate aridity. Our route led up a canyon straight to the top, with some scrambling where the route crossed the limestone band. The top was rather a bleak place as it had apparently been burned off some time ago by lightning, however, this provided an unobstructed view in every direction. To the northwest the incomparable Wind Rivers bit the sky. To the south, the Park Range on the northern boundary of Colorado could be seen, while all around was the great expanse of desert, with dunes, playas, buttes, badlands, and mountains - especially the Granite Hills to the northwest which reminded me of the Coxcombs or Joshua Tree. Colorado to the Wind Rivers in one sweep! The "Effluent Society" has not yet tainted this limitless country, apparently destined forever to be the home of many antelope and hawks and few people. CONSERVATION CORNER                                 Harry Melts As your Conservation Representative for the current desert year I shall report here what is new on the desert scene together with some of my thoughts about the desert conservation and protection. The next few years are crucial. Some of the best desert wilderness is in National Parks and Monuments and in the additions proposed to these. The National Park Service is presently going through a process of land classification where public hearings have been he1d and the NPS masterplans for wilderness boundaries. This has been disappointing. For example, the latest Chiricahua, N.M. where the NW half of the monument was excluded from the proposed wilderness protection (Pickett Park area). The Park Service has the sad tendency to measure the success of their units by the number of visitors they attract but this is too simple and destructive a yardstick. It has led to road building and development in excess and the NPS is becoming more of a resort keeper than wilderness protector. The cry of "Parks Are For The People" has been applied far too vigorously and eventually will lead to the destruction of the very things for which the parks offered protection.

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