Also in Nature & Environment

Thrillcraft

The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation

by George Wuerthner

Reviews

Yeeehaaa!

Growing Ranks of Off-Roaders Have Fewer Places to Ride. Something's Gotta Give.

Download a PDF of the entire artice here.

Review

"Monster trucks, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, dirt bikes, dune buggies, jet skis, and SUVs—how we love our carbon-spewing, rip-roaring, earth-bashing motorized craft, but, oh, what havoc they wreak. Never before has the damage done by ORVs to earth, water, air, plants, wildlife, and our own senses and sensibility been so graphically documented as in this supersized, in-your-face album of photographs and essays by scientists, nature writers, and social critics, among them Rick Bass, James Howard Kunstler, and Ted Williams. Edited by ecologist Wuerthner, this forthright condemnation of "motorized wreckreation" details the abuse of public lands and trails, and addresses issues of liberty and responsibility. Writers analyze our fascination with machine power, our estrangement from nature, and the societal frustrations that induce ORV drivers to tear up the landscape. Helmeted, gloved, and mud-splattered thrill crafters, looking like space soldiers on an alien planet, are contrasted with people walking serenely. Given global warming and peak oil prices, the thrill-craft craze seems wanton and fatalistic, and while some readers will find this bold volume insulting, many will find it truthful and affirming."