05/03/07 Is the West Doomed

What is it about life out West that compels individuals from Teddy Roosevelt to 21'st century explorer, Josh Bernstein host of Digging for the Truth to leave the comforts of the East and test their meddle in our elements. Will this place responsible for transforming so many lives continue to physically exist or will the West become a metaphor. It might seem that the Western half of the US is but a glorified subdivision strewn with Mc Mansions from Montana to Mexico, with enough covenants, off road restrictions, fencing, grazing regulations, and river rights to make a true buck-a roo hang up his spurs. Yet there are some, like horse trainer Gwynn Turnbull Weaver that scoff at the idea the west no longer exists. In a recent article for Western Horsemen she states confidently that while many say the West is breaking up, "a few fence lines, a few laws and a few trends can't defeat the great American West. The West is a state of mind. What's big about the West is what it does to a person's heart. That's what can't be divided.