If living organisms could write a letter to humans, what would they say? I imagine the message from thousand-year-old bristlecone pines, sequoias, and baobabs would be lengthy (and likely not on paper), while a bird’s eye perspective could be enlightening. But what about the areas we’ve long deemed lifeless, the deserts and dry places? After all, “the middle of nowhere” is, in fact, in the middle of somewhere and is teeming with life.
Desert enthusiast John Watson has been riding bikes, backpacking, and touring four-wheel drives throughout the Colorado Plateau since he was a teenager. These experiences led him to read the work of the “modern-day desert father,” Craig Childs. With the surge of outdoor recreation after the pandemic, Watson noticed more damage and misuse of the delicate ecosystems in the Moab region.
In this Video of the Week, John Watson joins dryland ecologist Dr. Kristina Young and filmmaker Sinuhe Xavier on a bike journey through the Colorado Plateau, examining the consequences of disturbing delicate biocrust through unsustainable recreation and how to move through a desert’s fragile equilibrium responsibly.
These living communities of lichens, mosses, cyanobacteria, and other soil-dwelling creatures thrive in the open spaces between plants, anchoring the desert sands in place. This film project embarks on an exploration of this underappreciated desert ecosystem, exploring the consequences of disturbing the delicate biocrust through unsustainable recreation. – Dr. Kristina Young, Dryland Ecologist
Throughout the film, Watson and Young worked on the Shred Lightly Principles, which are meant to expand on the existing Leave No Trace Principles.
- Stay on designated roads and trails when trails exist. Avoid undesignated/social trails as they lead to soil erosion.
- When on backcountry expeditions on foot, stick to solid surfaces like slickrock or follow water drainage lines.
- Learn how to identify biocrust and biocrust development; even if it doesn’t look like biocrust, assume biocrust is present.
- Pack it in and pack it out, including toilet paper and human waste; use a wag bag.
- Camp and rest on hard surfaces.
- Leave the landscape unaltered.
These tenants are important to remember during your next desert excursion. Treat them like a letter from the biocrust, signed with love.
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