ABSTRACT
Deserts are among the ecosystems considered for preservation. Industrialization has affected deserts: industry has been established in centers of population, and minerals have been increasingly sought and extracted. Most desert research and development is devoted to determining the best use of the desert for the greatest economic return and to halting and turning back desertification. In the arid and semiarid western United States, reserves of fossil fuels are likely to be exploited at an accelerating rate in the near future, with the greatest consequences for the deserts of North America since the onslaughts of settlers, miners, and—lately—off-road vehicles. The nature of the research demanded rigorous self-policing of trailbreaking, camping, and backpacking, and those who participated in the studies learned to appreciate the desert from both the scientific and the esthetic points of view. Grazing by domestic animals, considered the primary cause of desertification, has not only left scars and barren areas, but has cut deeply into populations of wildlife.
