Arguments in favor of protecting this stream or that forest tend to come down to ecological significance or some other scientific reason.
Robert Leonard Reid--mountaineer, musician, mathematician, and writer--likes the concept of protecting things because of their beauty.
He explores the concept further in the 19 essays of Because It Is So Beautiful: Unraveling the Mystique of the American West.The author visits Ashland and sits for a chat about the West and its many powerful places.