Wilderburbs

Lincoln Bramwell offers a cautionary tale about the tensions that invariably exist between the dreams we have for the places we'd love to live and the gritty realities we encounter when we try to bring those dreams down to earth. Nature does not exist to do our beck and call, and is never as much under our control as we imagine. We forget this truth at our peril, and a visit to the wilderburbs can be a salutary way to keep remembering. -- William Cronon, From the foreword Wilderburbs explores an intriguing and consequential new variation on the old story of humans imposing their ambitions and hopes on Western landscapes. Tracking the collision of human desire with nature's complexity, Lincoln Bramwell encourages Americans to mix a greater share of responsibility and humility into their visions of how to make a place into a home. -- Patricia Nelson Limerick, author of Legacy of Conquest With a firefighter's eye, and a historian's insight, Lincoln Bramwell offers a brilliant and complex reading of the ecological impact and cultural significance of housing hammered into the American West's wildland-urban interface. A stellar achievement. -- Char Miller, author of Public Lands, Public Debates: A Century of Controversy Delightfully accessible and extremely thought-provoking... Bramwell makes clear the misery that can result from the disconnect between what people think land, property, and environmental resources and conditions should be and what they actually are. -- Ellen Stroud, author of Nature Next Door Engaging ... a new perspective on the transformation of the rural West in the later twentieth century. -- John M. Findlay, coauthor of Atomic Frontier Days By pointing out the irony of wanting to be close to nature and as a consequence actually destroying it, Bramwell demonstrates that, like it or not, human actions are limited by nature and its resources. The book should be read not only by those already committed to the conservation of nature, but also by those who are not, to see how immersed we all are in our surroundings. -- Daniel B. Botkin, author of Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the 21st Century

Since the 1950s, the housing developments in the West that historian Lincoln Bramwell calls “wilderburbs” have offered residents both the pleasures of living in nature and the creature comforts of the suburbs. Remote from cities but still within commuting distance, nestled next to lakes and rivers or in forests and deserts, and often featuring spectacular views of public lands, wilderburbs celebrate the natural beauty of the American West and pose a vital threat to it.

Wilderburbs tells the story of how roads and houses and water development have transformed the rural landscape in the West. Bramwell introduces readers to developers, homeowners, and government regulators, all of whom have faced unexpected environmental problems in designing and building wilderburb communities, including unpredictable water supplies, threats from wildfires, and encounters with wildlife. By looking at wilderburbs in the West, especially those in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, Bramwell uncovers the profound environmental consequences of Americans’ desire to live in the wilderness.