Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation [Hardcover]

George Wuerthner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2007

Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation exposes the lasting damage done to our land, water, and air from the growing plague of jet skis, quads, dirt bikes, dune buggies, snowmobiles, and other motorized recreational craft that are penetrating the last bastions of wild America. The increase in thrillcraft use is responsible for wildlife habitat fragmentation, disturbance of sensitive wildlife, soil erosion, spread of invasive weeds, loss of silence, as well as water and air pollution. With more than one hundred shocking color photographs, Thrillcraft vividly documents the destruction caused by these machines on American public lands. Essays by activists, policy experts, scientists, and others support the photographs, explain the harm done by these machines, and critique the cultural foundation of this phenomenon. Thrillcraft bears witness to the mindless destruction of our collective natural heritage and offers a vision for a future when the howl of the wind or wolf can again be heard more often than the howl of a machine.

Editorial Reviews

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."
-- Donna Seaman, Booklist

About the Author

Editor George Wuerthner is a professional photographer and the author of more than two dozen books on natural history and other environmental topics. He is currently the ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology. Contributors to Thrillcraft include Rick Bass, Philip Cafaro, Dominick DellaSala, David Havlick, James Howard Kunstler, Richard Mahler, Thomas Michael Power, Paul Sutter, Howie Wolke, and more than 15 others.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Foundation for Deep Ecology; First Edition edition (November 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933392665
• ISBN-13: 978-1933392660
• Product Dimensions: 13.6 x 12 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,782,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pictures Don't Lie, December 21, 2007

By 

Modesto (the good earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation (Hardcover)

If I had stock in the ATV industry, made a nice living selling ATVs, or if my fun depended on free public land, outnumbered and outgunned law enforcement, and cheap gas made possible by the sacrifices of the U.S. military, I'd attack this book too. However, pictures don't lie. As a hiker, mountain bicyclist, and camper, I've seen the damage created by unregulated, unrepentant ATV users, and as a professional environmental planner, I can assure you it will last for generations. It's our land, not their land, and one or two user groups do not have the right to scar our natural birthright for a weekend of petroleum-powered partying. Don't take anyone's word for it--read this book. Educate yourself. Go see the damage. And then decide if enough is enough.

16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent account of motorized recreation, January 24, 2008

By 

Infoseeker "Off-road enthusiast" (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation (Hardcover)

Thrillcraft finally says it all - the pictures and the articles - about the unfortunate but true destruction of off-road vehicles and motorized recreation. I am an off-roader myself, and am furious at how a lot of my associates have destroyed our sport by tearing up the land wherever they go. Everyone suffers from this irresponsible use - especially the off-roaders. If only there was respect and the knowledge that if we destroy it, we also won't have a place to ride. If we're going out in nature - let's keep it so we have something to go out to. This book is a real wake-up call to everyone!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars [...], June 27, 2009

By 

Oliver "Oliver Marks" (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation (Hardcover)

The solution to this issue is the website in the title: http://www.treadlightly.org/. most offroad motoring enthusiasts are aware of this organization.

There is a small minority of people in any recreational activity to who behave badly: this includes hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts as well as offroad enthusiasts.

This book is ridiculously one sided and just helps polarize. How did the author go to the locations where the photos were taken? In a motorized vehicle.

I'd argue some of the most ignorant people driving irresponsibly off road are people taking their shopping SUV off road for the first time: they get tired and hungry and decide they'd better head home for supper and drive much to fast. you'll find plenty of cases where 4x4 enthusiasts will wind up losing a lot of their recreational time towing suburban motorists back to the road after they crack their sump or get stuck exploring offroad - these good samaritans are often taken for granted.

Many offroad enthusiasts do trail clean up and maintenance work because their vehicles are robust enough to navigate the trails other users enjoy.

This is a really unhelpful book that is one sided enough to actually help the more irresponsible offroad people.

The Minnesota Four Wheel Drive Association's (MN4WDA) produced this educational video on responsible off roading using ORV/OHV - off roading, when done properly, isn't harmful to the environment.
[...]

We need more positive helpful commentary like this, not an emotional, fundamentally negative book which doesn't offer any solutions beyond telling people no.

Banning things doesn't work - our tax dollars should be used to provide challenging land for the more extreme enthusiasts, not limiting access.

An analogy is skateboarding - build great municipal skate parks and you won't see the civic street furniture chewed up by skaters with nowhere to skate.

So overall a terribly negative one sided book with no viable solutions and an alarmist, subjective tone which does nothing but sow negativity.