Same thing is happening in Monument Valley Utah/AZ... It's like an entire generation just discovered that the earth has some beautiful areas and they're coming to ruin it all.
Not to dismiss your point, but there was also a generation of people who wanted to mine the grand canyon. I think that as people we still have the same psychological trappings as we did before. But I do think we're becoming more conscious. Certainly, if you asked any of those lavender tramplers about setting of dynamite in that area to unearth copper or whatnot, they'd probably not support such an idea.