Probably 20 years ago now, SamHenry’s mother and stepfather were living on Pinacle Peak in Scottsdale, Arizona, high above the Sonoran Desert. On her first day there, Sam’s mother took her on a tour of America’s most beautiful desert and it brought a flood of tears. “Why are you crying”? mother asked. ” I thought you would enjoy this ride.” Sam replied “why would I be happy to see America’s most beautiful desert marked off into lots with for sale signs everywhere”? It ranked in Sam’s mind with building on Civil War Battlefields, putting Disney World in historic Virginia (happily voted out) and other atrocities brought about by unbridled greed.
Fallingwater and the Sonoran Desert, along with 10 other settings, are on this year’s roster of threatened landscapes. The 2011 “Landslide” list, released today by the Cultural Landscape Foundation, is a compendium of parks, gardens and other landscapes that are at risk due to development, neglect or other issues. The foundation has compiled the annual list since 2003. This year, it spotlights not only the at-risk sites, but also the individuals who are working to preserve them.
The 2011 sites:
Sonoran Desert, Ariz.
It’s one of the world’s most diverse desert habitats, but urban development and agricultural operations are impacting the natural flora and fauna.McMillan Park, Washington, DC
The 25-acre park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., is on the site of a reservoir sand filtration site that ceased operation in the 1980s. Not far from the Capitol, it’s been deteriorating for the past 20 years and is threatened by increased development in the area. [list continues here]
roblorinov
September 24, 2011
SH the Sonoran Desert is beautiful and to see the gross housing developments springing up all over and ruining the desert is very disturbing. I’ve watched housing developments one after the other springing up all over. They BULLDOZE the desert, build the houses, and then put in “natural landscaping” which, sorry, is NOTHING like what the bulldozed! It needs to be stopped. We are losing a precious and diverse landscape right under our noses due to the greed of the Corporatists.
samhenry
September 24, 2011
I am sorry to hear this still goes on. I had thought that there was a move to end putting in grass and using native landscaping. It got so bad when we were out there that people had the allergies from the trees and shrubs and grasses transplanted to the desert that they went to escape in the first place. Crazy. Glad to have a comrade in arms about this important issue.
roblorinov
September 25, 2011
It is still same SH. Allergies here are horrible and they are NOT from natural landscape but from the fake landscape they are calling “natural.” It is horrible what is going on here and what they are doing to nature here!
roblorinov
September 25, 2011
OH don’t know if you recall where Catalina State Park is northwest of town but remember how it all used to be desert on the way to the park? Now it is all housing and big development for as far as you can see looking west and northwest. And the park is now only open a few days per week due to state budget cuts.
samhenry
September 25, 2011
I am truly ill RL, sincerely. This has to stop. We are killing ourselves. Air pollution from cars (and they blamed it on smelters in Mexico) was bad in my time but I can imagine it is just plain impossible in this. I can imagine much of the illegal immigration has brought the crammed housing.
samhenry
September 25, 2011
I lived in Toronto in my time and don’t want to go back to it to see how it is now. I now will not want to return to Arizona.
In Europe things are bad but they know they have limited space and resources. You cannot even drive into the center of some of the old cities. WHH, when will we wake up to the fact that there is more money in going back into the crumbling cities and rebuilding than in making sure everyone has a five acre or more lot? In Oregon, Portland has drawn a line around the city and no building beyond it. Pittsburgh PA has the same population as Portland and twice the land area. The NATIONAL government should adopt standards about development in high density areas since the states are not strong enough to have done so. In RI corruption has overbuilt that place -a well-known fact.This is the only form of Big government of which I approve. We would not have the amount of wilderness we have today except for the feds. And to complete my run-on paragraph, in Oregon and Washington states, you cannot build on the shoreline. Everyone gets to enjoy it. No so in the East. Disgusting. Even along the shores of Lake Ontario it is built. Vast vistas closed to vast numbers of people. And in Michigan – the dunes of the Great lake are on the list of 10 endangered places.
roblorinov
September 25, 2011
Greed…greed…greed. It’s that simple.
samhenry
September 25, 2011
Sadly, yes. I will send you pictures of the territorial style – I forget what you call it adobe – home my parents owned out there. It was like a piece of native sculpture and ironically designed by a Rochester architect. Go figure. All native plants.
roblorinov
September 27, 2011
Thank you SH I will look forward to the pics. To add a bit more on this subject it is not simply Corporate greed that is ruining desert but also the illegal drug and human smugglers. The garbage in the desert is unbelievable especially on the West side of town. Clothing, water bottles galore, food wrappings, etc. It looks like garbage dump and it is getting much worse! Then the signs! They read like “Warning! Danger! Known smuggler area! Proceed at own risk!” And if you look up on some of hills there are people with guns on top of hills watching everything you do. No they are not police. They are smuggler lookouts just like in Afghanistan! When America thinks of war they think of Afghanistan but there is WAR right here in America’s Southwest. To view it on video go to youtube and type in Border Wars. They are turning desert into a war zone.
samhenry
September 27, 2011
I believe this RL. It is a war zone and we are doing NOTHING. What is going on here? We know that illegals are running scared ahead of these goons. But there is something else going on – the disintegration of the US. I laud Texas and Arizona for being realistic about the situation. This is no time for political correctness. Illegals are the foot soldiers in this war. To a large extent, they are being used.
samhenry
September 27, 2011
One wonders if the native American population in the south west states are not cooperating with the cartels, eh?
DarcsFalcon
September 28, 2011
Last year when I was getting videos from the library, I found a series on America’s National Parks. Oh my gosh. So much beauty and loveliness here in our country! I was never a “desert fan” until we drove through AZ and NM a few years ago. It’s breathtaking country and I hope it’s preserved.
samhenry
September 28, 2011
Sad to say in Arizona’s case, you drove through 25 years too late. Hugs
roblorinov
September 29, 2011
Our returning soldiers often say what is going on here is just like in Afghanistan! That is frightening.
samhenry
September 29, 2011
What a sad thought that men who fought for our country come home and wonder just what kind of people they were fighting to save.