Decorating the Wilderness; J. Wenders

Ashley raced all four wheels. I jumped out of the truck, opened the rear of the trailer, and began unloading frightened horses. By the time the trailer emptied I had been kicked once, stepped on twice, knocked down, and squeezed against the side of the trailer as Brutus turned and bolted out. But getting the horses out of the trailer kept us from sliding over the edge. On other occasions I have fallen in icy streams in below-zero weather, had nightfall overtake me far from camp in a snowstorm, been left stranded far from camp when my horse escaped, and been dumped by a grizzly-frightened horse. I do not plan these little adventures, still they do occur, and will probably occur again. But these are some of the risks I accept when hunting. Com pared to these, the risk of getting shot is the least of my worries. Now come various game and fish depart ments, hunter education associations, and legis lators. They say that I should not be allowed to accept some hunting risks. To protect me from myself, I must be required to sally forth in glow ing orange, probably with a neon propeller on my hat, so that irresponsible hunters won't shoot me.

When not hunting, John T. Wenders is Professor of Eco nomics at the University of Idaho. I can see it now: road checks to make sure I don't pull my horse trailer up any snowy roads; all water posted in several languages and fenced in the win ter so I won't fall in; a required siren at camp that goes off at sundown to guide me back; govern ment-regulated strength standards for aU lead ropes, halters, and knots. And all grizzlies belled. Think of how safe the wilderness will be! No thank you. I know what's best for me. One of the reasons I hunt is to get away from the trap pings of civilization, and I will accept all the risks. Further, I'll do others the favor of presuming that they know what's best for them: as much as I hate to see the wilderness decorated, I willsupport their right to wear macho hunter orange. I only ask in return that they support my right to accept the risks of not doing so. D 327 The Individual and the Community by TiborR. Machan T here always has been something of a puzzle in social and political philosophy as to how much a political system should prize individuals and how much it should stress the prominence of the community. The question is about as ancient a theme in this discipline as are questions of the one and the many in metaphysics and stability versus change in our ideas in episte mology.