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      Cedar Mesa
      A Place Where Spirits Dwell 
      by David Peterson 
      photos by Branson Reynolds
      University of Arizona Press, 2002
           Located high on the Colorado Plateau in southeast Utah, Cedar Mesa is a desert wilderness of slickrock escarpments, natural bridges, hidden springs and pre-Columbian Indian ruins. It is a wild and remote place and, for those who know it well, frequently magical.
           Teaming up with photographer Branson Reynolds, nature writer David Peterson presents a vivid and personal portrait of Cedar Mesa in a series of brief essays that tell the human and natural history of the place, emphasizing its spiritual importance and the need to preserve its wildness. The writing is complemented by Reynolds' black-and-white photos of wildlife, plants, artifacts and rock formations. Millenia before the Anasazi arrived at Cedar Mesa, mysterious peoples known collectively as Paleo-Indians visited and repeatedly, if always only briefly, occupied the area.
           This book, Peterson says, "is intended to honor, celebrate, and in whatever measure possible help to protect one of the most palpably spiritual natural places on the American continent." He hopes to inspire support for preservation and protection of the place without encouraging overuse and exploitation. 
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           "Cedar Mesa is a place for adventure," he explains. "For getting lost and finding your way out (or not). For following footprints in the sand and pebble cairns across long stretches of undifferentiated slickrock. For self-discovery. I thank the canyon gods that the BLM doesn't share the Forest and Park service's compulson (or, more likely, their budgets) for pampering a dilettante public and insulting the scenery with 'More signs, please!'"
      		 By David Petersen

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