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<br />" <br /> <br />"A.>~b.,~ <br /> <br />I1AII'>/I/'5 "QUIL7 R1'VOLlJTlON" I1ITS TI/I' .\1..11;\,1.,,/;\,1) 1'9 <br /> <br />;' <br /> <br />priv:1.tl.: pnl]Krty? Let's first (omiclcr <br />the: so-cdlcd ".~LcuIld horne" boom <br />-"all t'pi(klllic," ill the words of <br />Sen. Gaylord i\:c!.<;/l11 (0.. \Vis.), <br />"that's hcroming a H:~nllrcc tr:1!::cuv <br />of \lIlIHcc--:dl'r;ted pr()portir;'Il!'." <br />Spccubturs buy lip a I1Wl1nLlill~idc. <br />a bkcshore or ;1 streIch of UCSt;rt for <br />$20, S~o or a couple of hlllldrec dol- <br />lars a-n ;lerL, bulldoze ."omt rU:lds <br />imo it W lh<.:y can call it ;1 "develop- <br />mellt," then ':1.d\"crtisl.: it ll:ltiollallv <br />for thollsands of dLJll.lrs :1n Jcre.* <br />Frequently, they don't C\'<.:1l f1re!(~l1d <br />to be selling living space; the bnd is <br />:m "in\"e~[mcnt opportunity," like <br />soybc:m futures. There arc: [l0\1.: <br />about 10,000 subdiviclt.:rs operating <br />in 49 'talcs; each year, they gobble <br />np and sell, by conscrv:1tive esrim~te, <br />$5 billioll dollors' WOrlh of row land, <br />Smog in the Big Sky, One of the <br />worst effects of such development is <br />the \l,.':15hing Jway of wpsojJ. A <br />California Resources Agency study <br />found that c~rvillg su\xJivision roads <br />out of a forcste-d slope increases <br />C':rosion bv as much as 2000 times. <br />The wor~t d;llllage is caused by <br />the "investment-opportunity" sub- <br />divisions, where the bulldozed <br />ground, remaining ulloccupied for <br />years, pours mud endlessly down- <br />hilL In the deserts, the soil blows <br />away in dust storms. , <br />The blight is IlOtionwide, Olf <br />Cape Cod, the mogni/icently wild <br />and unspoiled dune country of thc <br />Martha's Vineyard coast is on the <br /> <br />.' <br />.! <br /> <br />.Scc "Lind S\\"indk~; ,A., COli G3me 10 Be. <br />ware Of," The Rt'adcr.s Di.ccq, May '73. <br /> <br />point o[ !lL'i llg pbstL'l'cd over b\' <br />.'\l'(olld-Iwlm.: de\.do!K'[".... III C:di- <br />(~)rnia. a reCl:nt .'\\lrVC\' indicltcd th;1I <br />urban ~pr;J\\"1 ;111<-1 tI~c sL'colld-hollle <br />boom have Cll1 nIT :lCCI..'SS ((J :dJ but <br />abcJlIt 25 pnn.:llt (,f'the st;lll'\ IfJ71- <br />mile shorclille. ;\llllC!SI L'\,ny\\.hclc <br />you fly ovcr the deserts uf the S(!lllh- <br />wesr, you C;111 plainly ~lT. (rom <br />-lP,U()O {tx:r up, the hugc ch!:ckcr- <br />board sell'S of (he: j;lJHJ-.\ubdi\ itlCfS. <br />1n Colof.ld(J's sI1;lrse!y sL'ttled Cos- <br />tilb Countv. 011 lilt.' I'C\\' ;\lc:\I(O <br />border. an .;lrca (Jf Illore lh:m -1')0 <br />square miles h,lS been purch;lsl'cll~y <br />land splillcrs. <br />And IO(lllling- hehind :t11 this is <br />the prodigious ;"Ill\Xtcr of the energy <br />crisis. On the pr;lirics of l\'fllllt;lll,l, <br />\Vyoming :llld the Dakot;ls. tinder <br />which lie the country's richest co~d <br />deposits, po\\'er com panics h:lye <br />leased over 1(100' square milL'S of <br />pri"Me land for strip-mining. .-\t <br />the same [illle~ they ;lre pLlI1ning <br />so m:my huge mine-molllh pO\\"(:r <br />pbnrs that just to cool thelll may <br />require the diversion of half;l dozen <br />rivcrs. At thc present ratc of ((in- <br />struction, within three decades rhe <br />Big Sky cnuntrv of l\-'lo11t;lna, \V\'o- <br />mi;lg ~lld the .Dakot;ls m;])' b~ a <br />Ruhr Valley, producing more ('lcc~ <br />tricity than }:IP;1ll'5 total currcllr OtH- <br />put, and more smoke than the <br />metropolit:11l areas of New York and <br />Los Angeles combined. <br />Root of the Problem. Cbrly, the <br />country faces a crisis in the W:IY our <br />eCOllOluic growth is cating up our <br />priv~re1y owncd land. It.s true, of <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />~ <br />I <br />II <br />! <br />~ <br />! <br />~ <br />