Gundars Rudzitis

How important is wilderness? Results from a United States Survey

The designation and management of federal wilderness areas has generated much controversy in the United States. The decade of the 1980s has been a difficult one for public land managers as there has been growing opposition to their traditional “conserve but use philosophy.” Public lands are to be managed for the public benefit. Unfortunately there has been little survey research to find out what the attitudes of the public are towards the management of federally designated wilderness. We report the results of a national survey of 2670 residents of wilderness counties. We found that the presence of wilderness is an important reason why 53% of the people moved to or live in the area; 81% felt that wilderness areas are important to their counties; and 65% were against mineral or energy development in wilderness areas. On some issues there was less agreement as 43% of the respondents wanted more access to wilderness, and 39% were in favor of additional wilderness with 26% undecided. There were no large differences between counties and regions despite the differences in economic and social characteristics and the historical contexts within which they evolved.

The Myth and Reality of Sustainable New Zealand: Mining in a Pristine Land

New Zealanders took to the streets by the tens of thousands on May 1, 2010, to protest a government proposal to open national parks and other scenic areas to mining exploration. News reports called the estimated 40,000 marchers in Auckland, the nation’s largest city, the biggest public demonstration in New Zealand in a generation. In a country with an estimated population of 4.4 million, it was an overwhelming display

Migration sense of place and nonmetropolitan vitality.

In this progress report I will look at recent developments in models and theories relevant to nonmetropolitan migration and development [in the United States]. I will also focus on bottom up approaches and the importance of a sense of place in maintaining nonmetropolitan vitality. Finally I will discuss the importance of a historical and regional approach when examining the continuing economic and social transformations of nonmetropolitan areas. (EXCERPT)

Gaming, Population Change, and Rural Development on Indian Reservations

Indians are almost an invisible part of rural America. While reservations represent a significant feature of the American West, they are not centrally featured in rural policy discussions. Many Indian reservations have extreme levels of poverty, unemployment rates that exceed 50 percent, and the highest suicide rates in the nation. By most economic indicators, American Indians rank among the most disadvantaged population groups in the United States (Gitter & Reagan, 2002; Young, 1990). Recently, however, the introduction of casino gaming has brought hope and income to some Indian reservations, yet it remains unclear whether casino gambling will provide a lasting economic solution for Indians individually or collectively. In this chapter, I consider the following questions: (1) What are the social and economic impacts of what appears to be a “successful” economic development strategy on a disadvantaged population? (2) How does gaming compare with other economic development strategies employed by various tribes? (3) How might gaming affect the size and composition of the Native American population in northern Idaho? (4) What is, or should be, the relationship between gaming, economic development and nation building on Indian reservations? The discussion begins at the national level and later uses a case study of impacts of casino gaming on the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho.

Aging on Indian Reservations: The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good

This chapter examines the conditions for the older population on Indian reservations and how those conditions compare to the non-Indian population. The discussion opens on a national level, though the focus is on tribes in the Western United States. Older Indians on reservations are aging in a society where they are an almost invisible part of rural America. Yet the reservations, despite the poor socioeconomic conditions on many, represent home and a place for off-reservation Native Americans to come back to. To include the voices of Indian elders and gain insights into how they perceive being elders, we report on interviews conducted with older Indians on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho. The Nez Perce interviews provide insights into how different tribal elders perceive their status and how it has or has not been affected by recent changes on the reservation. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and prospects for the future.

Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Meeting, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, September 15–18, 2010

What a beautiful setting greeted APCG meeting participants at Coeur d’Alene in September! Despite the remoteness of the venue, the meeting was quite well attended, with more than one hundred participants from as far away as Arizona and southern California. Gundars Rudzitis and Harley Johansen, co-chairs of the meeting, organized a most memorable APCG conference, with their choice of forest and lake venue. The group was treated to an opening session on Wednesday evening with an interesting and amusing history of the area presented by Dean Katherine Aitken of the College of Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences at the University of Idaho. Dr. Aitken spoke about “From Noah Kellogg’s Donkey to Superfund Site: Idaho’s Silver Valley; Some Historical Vignettes.” The group was also honored with a few words from the president of the University of Idaho, geography’s own Duane Nellis. Many geographers ventured out into the wilds of northern Idaho on one of the two Thursday field trips. One trip involved learning about the old silver-mining industry and its impact on the economy of the region; the other explored the history and effects of the horrific wildfires that swept throughout Idaho and Montana 100 years ago, during the summer of 1910. Both trips managed to merge when the fire folks were seeking refuge from the drizzle in an old and very dark railroad tunnel to enjoy their gourmet box lunches. The tunnel was one of several that became famous for having provided shelter for trainloads of townsfolk seeking escape from the fires. The railroads were also an essential part of the silver-mining industry, transporting tons of ore at the height of the mining years. Thursday evening, APCG members were treated to a lovely sunset cruise around Lake Coeur d’Alene, complete with cocktails and appetizers, accompanied by beautiful views of the northern forest and shoreline resort development. We also started a new tradition of having two free drinks at each evening event.

New Geographies of the American West: Land Use and the Changing Patterns of Place

as models, ideas, or concepts. Among these are K. Griffin’s work on pilgrimage tourism and globalization; J. Mulligan’s work on “Pilgrimage to Paradise” in the Caribbean, which offers a new perspective of the pilgrimage concept; and V. Ambrosio and M. Pereira’s comparable work on four holy Catholic towns in terms of urban development in which they used the life cycle model (Butler 1980). The absence of a summary is noticeable. It is common practice to include such a chapter in edited books, as it usually offers an integrated view connecting the various themes presented throughout the book. A summary could have proposed an agenda for researching religion and tourism, and thus constituted the novelty of the book. It could also have provided a conceptual framework for understanding the nature of the religious tourism phenomenon. As it is, after finishing the book, we are left with these questions: What is the contribution of the book as a whole? What makes it more than the sum of its parts, diverse and novel as they may be? The scope of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Management is wide ranging, offering us a selection of case studies and research projects from around the world, all of which together present a powerful argument in support of religious tourism. Once the connection between tourism and religion is analyzed, it becomes very clear that religion plays an important role in shaping the tourism product. This book will appeal strongly to an emerging and growing audience, both academics and practitioners in the tourism industry, from both the East and the West, focusing on the ever more important and inspiring narratives of the sacred and the secular, of tourism, pilgrimage, and what lies between them. The main contribution of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Management is that it reinforces the importance of the study of tourism from a religion standpoint. It reminds us of the centrality of religion in the past and today to our understanding of contemporary society; therefore, this book transcends the narrow bounds of tourism studies.