> Your photos are good, but the event tells me something about the total
> disregard for natural resources and the environment.
I appreciate the "enlightened attitude" you have, but it is also very
ill informed.
1. The cliff is eroding away from the river. It's actually bermed up
glacial silt so it erodes pretty quickly. Just in the last several
days the river has changed direction so much that the event itself
almost got cancelled and in another week, the entire grounds the crowd
was on might be washed away and 20 feet of hillside could be gone. It
is a volatile location and a crashed car on the hillside has no real
effect.
2. If you are concerned about the gas used by the 10,000 people to
travel a couple of hours in Alaska, this is Alaska. If they aren't
travelling to Glacier View, they'll travel to somewhere else and run
4-wheelers or boats. And this is the season of tourism. I'll consider
it a non-issue as it's a zero-sum game.
3. The waste of good vehicles. The dozen or so crashed cars have no
value. Most can barely run and sometimes the herculine efforts to get
them to function one last time are immense. The vehicles are clunkers
and everything significant of value has been stripped off of them.
4. All the glass is removed, and any fluids removed that can cause
environmental damage. Again, the engine only needs to last a few
tortured seconds. Regardless, everything is completely cleaned up with
no debris left behind. After the event is over, people are allowed to
collect pieces as souvenirs, with everything remaining loaded up and
hauled off to the auto recycler. The very same auto recycler the cars
were already headed to.
5. The bulk of the people in attendance as well as everybody involved
are Alaskan. While some exceptions exist, there is a reverence and
love of this land. It is well understood what scars on the land are
permanent and what ones are fixed by the next winter.
6. Volunteerism. There are literally hundreds of volunteers involved
in this. Even an elderly care facility got involved this year, donated
an old van, painted it up, prepared it, and participated in the event.
The sense of "community" is strong. A strong community has a bond.
7. It brings joy to thousands. Why is it that the "enlightened" can't
stand it watching other people have fun? Why must the "enlightened"
hate on things like this?
AK Schnozz
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