It was placed off limits to the massive logging that had threatened its ecological integrity. An obvious victory for environmentalists, Lee describes it as unfortunate because the world was now deprived of a test bed for sustainable development. In his view, it was a failure of bounded conflict. Lee seems to assume that all parties in resource disputes will have honest intentions. Industrialist seek profits.
Environmentalists press for conservation.
It is a traditional conflict that has been played out in courts and legislatures for years. Such forces are typified by the industry-sponsored and funded Wise Use movement and the 104th Congress. These are manifestations of a multi-level campaign which attacks at least two of the fundamental elements of Lee's theory. The Wise Use movement has been described by its spokesmen as an organized attempt to obliterate the environmental movement. Success in that goal would remove a source of conflict that Lee holds as necessary for achieving sustainable development.