Our public lands have never been more crowded. As millions of us flock to the mountains and the deserts to revel in their wild beauty and restore our jaded spirits, perhaps it's time to ask: are we helping or hurting?
So far, rational environmental arguments have largely kept Utah's tar sands, which contain an estimated 12 billion to 20 billion barrels of oil, in the ground. Rising oil prices, however, may soon erase these historic constraints, just as they have done in Canada.