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Wilderness Movement.doc Size : 38 Kb Type : doc |
Overview:
The term “Wilderness” has experienced tremendous fluidity throughout the history of the world. One could find opinions on Wilderness dating back to Biblical times and it could be further deciphered as a good example of the uncertainty of Wilderness. In the Bible, Wilderness can be found as both good, as in the heavenly Garden of Eden, as well as a “cursed” land of “hell” on earth (Callicott).
The true advancement in Wilderness began in the more present era during the explorations and settlement of North America. The Puritan Settlers coming into New England in the 1600’s brought along their biblical values of thinking that “it was their God-ordained destiny to transform dismal American wilderness into an earthly paradise, governed [by] the Word of God” (Callicott).
The raping of this land quickly educed a positive conservation movement. The movement began slowly in the Pennsylvania colony in 1681 when William Penn declared that “in clearing ground, care be taken to leave an acre of trees for every five acres cleared” (Callicott). Sixty-three years later Benjamin Franklin, in response to local overdevelopment, published the “Pennsylvania fireplace” which proposed the idea of efficient wood usage in order to conserve natural resources (Callicott).
Soon after, the Wilderness Movement began growing quickly and influential individuals began verbalizing the importance of Wilderness. Henry David Thoreau made the first acclaimed clear request for wilderness preservation in the mid 1800’s to combat society’s industrialization (Callicott). In 1854 he wrote that wilderness sanctuaries are the “need of civilized man” and believed “that each town should have a park, or rather a primitive forest, of five hundred or a thousand acres…where a stick should never be cut for fuel—nor for the navy, nor to make wagons, but to stand and decay for higher uses—a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation” (Callicott).
Around the same time, in the early 1860’s, John Muir became wanderlust and traveled. Late in the nineteenth century, in the wake of his travels, he organized the Sierra Club in 1892 to support preservation of wilderness and made the great change of popularizing the Wilderness Movement into society by “[praising] the value of big wilderness in a prose more accessible and less judgmental than Thoreau’s” (Callicott).
Significant change occurred in the Wilderness Movement and was brought to the public eye shortly subsequent to the turning point made by Muir. Gifford Pinchot organized advanced conservation of natural resources by establishing the National Forest Service in 1905 around the same time that Ansel Adams was “[conveying] to the world his passion for wildlands through his photographs” and outward verbalizations for wilderness preservation (Wilderness.net). Aldo Leopold further promoted the Wilderness Movement a few years later with his passionate beliefs on wildlife conservation.
Leopold believed “that pieces of wildland should be set aside and kept untamed” (Wilderness.net). These concepts (as well as a written proposal) lead to the Gila National Forest being established in 1924 as “the first area in the world to be managed as a wilderness area” (Wilderness.net).
These ethics guided the way to the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which states: “wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain” (Callicott).
The Wilderness Movement has been progressing for centuries and will do so centuries to come. From establishing Acts to preserve free-flowing rivers to the conception of Earth Day in 1970; the world continues to slowly grow in the right direction. Aldo Leopold said it best that “the richest values of wilderness lie not in the days of Daniel Boone, nor even in the present, but rather in the future” (A Sand County Almanac).
Wilderness Movement
It was 1681 in the Pennsylvania colony when William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, declared that “in clearing ground, care be taken to leave an acre of trees for every five acres cleared” (Callicott 2006). Penn declared this in a response to a nation’s destructive judgments on wild lands and this pronouncement was the first widely recognized movement for conservation in America.
The Wilderness Movement progressed slowly. It was sixty-three years later until another influential man, in response to the nation quickly overdeveloping, spoke up in regards to conservation in wilderness. Benjamin Franklin, in 1744, published the “Pennsylvania Fireplace” which proposed the idea of efficient wood usage in order to conserve natural resources (Callicott2006).
Soon after, during a time when the nation’s industrialization was growing rapidly, many influential individuals began verbalizing the value of wilderness. Henry David Thoreau, an American writer, philosopher and naturalist who is best know for his book Walden, made the first acclaimed clear request for wilderness preservation in the mid 1800’s in reply to the industrial growth occurring in America (Callicott 2006). In 1854 he wrote that wilderness sanctuaries are the “need of civilized man” and believed “that each town should have a park, or rather a primitive forest, of five hundred or a thousand acres…where a stick should never be cut for fuel-not for the navy, nor to make wagons, but to stand and decay for higher uses-a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation” (Callicott 2006).
In the early 1860’s, John Muir, an American naturalist, explorer, writer and influential conversationalist, became wanderlust and traveled. Muir worked in hopes to preserve wilderness areas and wildlife from the growing industrial nation. Late in the nineteenth century, in the wake of his travels, he organized the Sierra Club in 1892 to support preservation of wilderness and made a change of popularizing the Wilderness Movement into society by “[praising] the value of big wilderness in a prose more accessible and less judgmental than Thoreau’s” (Callicott 2006). Soon after the creation of the Sierra Club he influenced President Theodore Roosevelt to set aside national monuments, national forest reserves, and national parks. His influence helped to establish Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park.
Soon after, in 1890, Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act. This enabled the practice of leaving some forested land in federal ownership. By the end of 1893, 17.5 million acres were set aside in forest reserves. Between 1901 and 1907 Theodore Roosevelt set aside 95 million acres of reserves and in 1907 the name of reserves was changed to national forests.
Significant change occurred in the Wilderness Movement and was brought to the public eye shortly subsequent to the turning point made by Muir. Gifford Pinchot, a prominent forestry expert, organized advanced conservation of natural resources by establishing the National Forest service in 1905 around the same time that Ansel Adams was “[conveying] to the world his passion for wildlands through his photographs” and outward verbalizations for wilderness preservation (Wilderness.net). Aldo Leopold further promoted the Wilderness Movement a few years later with his passionate beliefs on wildlife conservation.
Leopold was very important to the wilderness movement and made many changes in his writings. He was a conservationist and philosopher that is well known for his book A Sand County Almanac. He believed “that pieces of wildland should be set aside and kept untamed” (Wilderness.net). These concepts (as well as a written proposal) lead to the Gila National Forest, in New Mexico, being established in 1924 as “the first area in the world to be managed as a wilderness area” (Wilderness.net).
In 1933 the Civilian Conservation Corps was established as a federal agency as a way to establish economic recovery. During the 1930’s and 1940’s the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) brought even more attention to wilderness with their efforts of protecting and helping the environment. The CCC planted millions of acres of worn out and barren lands with seedlings to help with rejuvenating areas that were in environmental danger.
These ethics guided the way to the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which states: “wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain” (Callicott).
Following this, the National Environmental Policy Act was passed. This declared that there is a need to “…use all practicable means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.”
The National Environmental Policy Act opened up many doors to new ways in protecting the environment. In 1970 the Clean Air Act was passed: Acts to preserve free-flowing rivers and in 1973 the Endangered Species Act followed and was passed to continue the effort to protect the environment. These all were a giant step toward the protection of wilderness.
In 1970 the idea of Earth Day was conceptualized by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson as a day dedicated to protecting the environment. Today, environmental protection is finally regarded highly in the public eye. More and more organizations as well as individuals are making a difference for the sake of wilderness. In 1997 a 23-year-old woman climbed into a 180 foot tall Redwood tree in hopes to prevent the destruction of the tree and the forest where it had lived for over 100 years. She resided in the Redwood tree for two years in order to save the tree from death. An increasing amount of awareness has been occurring in today’s society. It is a progression that is very welcomed.
Today, the progression seems to be going strong, but the Wilderness Movement has been progressing for centuries and will do so for centuries to come. The world has continued to grow in a direction that promotes the conservation and care of wild lands. Aldo Leopold said it best that “the richest values of wilderness lie not in the days of Daniel Boone, nor even in the present, but rather in the future” (A Sand County Almanac 1966). The world is still struggling to protect the wilderness for future generations for we are not close to perfection or even sustainability. There are still countless numbers of issues that need to be resolved.
One current issue that must be resolved is the practice of government bombing in designated Wildlife Refuge areas. This issue is classically hidden from the public eye. The law to permit bombing in certain areas is typically sent through Congress and passed only when it goes through unseen. The passing of such a decree is solely deception on the nation and incredibly detrimental to the environment.
An example of such an area is the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. The area was established in 1939 for the conservation of natural wildlife resources. Cabeza Prieta is the third largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states and is boundless with desert. The area is incredibly hostile for animals that need lots of water to live. Temperatures may top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (for up to a 100 straight days) from June to October. The area offers an average of only 3 inches of rainfall per year and even with such hostile conditions many endangered species’ survival relies on the land.
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge contains as many as 391 plant species and more then 300 kinds of wildlife. The endangered Sonoran pronghorn, similar to an antelope, may have dropped to a dangerous low of 30 pronghorn left. These animals live on this land along with bighorn sheep, long-nosed bats, lizards, rattlesnakes, desert tortoises and fox that have adapted to a life that many would find uninhabitable.
There are many issues to deal with that may result in the destruction of this valuable land. The Wilderness Act of 1964 specifically prohibits the use of motorized equipment in wilderness areas but motorized vehicles are often used on the land. The government is known to use cars, off-road vehicles and motorcycles for patrolling on the Mexican border. Government vehicles are also routinely used for the Barry M. Goldwater Range.
“The Barry M. Goldwater Range (formerly the Luke Air Force Range) is [partially] located in [the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge]. It serves the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps as an armament and high-hazard testing area; a training area for aerial gunnery, rocketry, electronic warfare, and tactical maneuvering and air support; and a place to develop equipment and tactics” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/goldwater.htm).
The practice of government bombing should not take place in such a fragile area. It is completely hypocritical that a National Wildlife Refuge, which is suppose to be set aside for the protection of animals and wilderness resources, is being damaged by something that is controlled and unnecessary.
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge is not the only refuge that is being attacked. There are several more across the nation and many are being bombed without public awareness. It is completely unethical to have such a devastating practice in a National Wildlife Refuge. The bombing personally goes against many of my ethics toward Wilderness.
Wilderness personally means many things. I have done a majority of my personal growth from being in the wilderness. It is a place to find solitude, reflection, spirituality and truth. To me, it is a place “where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you.” In the kingdom of wilderness there is complete genuineness.
My first time truly experiencing wilderness was in the Smoky Mountain National Park. I was 16 years old and a friend and I drove down the day we received our driver’s license. We had teenage invincibility and ventured into the mountains completely ignorant to what we would find.
We went out for a week, foolishly unprepared, and experienced wilderness first hand. We quickly found ourselves stuck in the cold and the rain without jackets, walked through the snow in hole filled tennis shoes, ran out of food and water, and became lost for two days. No matter how ghastly it sounds, we find ourselves looking back at the experience with love in our eyes. This experience changed my life: it showed me what wilderness truly is. It gave me my first sense of knowing what it is like to be humble and carefree in the stressful and industry centered society in which I would return one week later.
Wilderness is a humble place. It is the only place where truth still exists. There are no lies, no emotions, and no jealously in the lifestyle of the wilderness. It is pure survival. To me, it is what life really is.
It is very difficult to verbalize my concept of wilderness. My thoughts toward wilderness are so unadorned that there are no words to explain them. When I state that wilderness is what life really is, I mean that as saying that it is what life is suppose to be like. There are no walls, no vehicles, and no desks: it is life and life only.
Being in wilderness has given me a desire, that has longed inside of me for years, to remove myself from typical society and live off the land. To me, society is living in a state that is not natural. Industrialization is taking people further from their natural beings. With this, I believe that people will lose who they truly are. Since my first trip, I have been progressing to getting closer to my natural being. The wilderness has inspired me to remove myself from the majority of my possessions and to live a more humble lifestyle.
For most people, Wilderness is a place to find solitude. It is very desirous to go out and experience nature first hand. It is a time to forget about all the stress and restrictions placed upon people by industry and gives people a time to reflect. It gives a time for people to regress to a natural state of mind, and to be alone with their own thoughts. These experiences of solitude are where nearly all of my personal growth has originated.
In wilderness, it is very easy to find a sense of spirituality. One can see how everything is both connected and free. Wilderness has aided in the adaptation of my beliefs about life, religion, emotion and love. To me, wilderness is the only place where a feeling of complete comfort exists.
My personal feelings on wilderness can not be fully understood on paper. It is more of a feeling that is beyond words. In order to be satisfied with the state that wilderness is in, I must do what I can to get nature back to a sustainable fate. I hope to find myself in a place “where bars of sunlight blaze on profiles cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags…” In wilderness, the only true life can be found.
WORKS CITED
Callicott, J. Baird. Ybarra, Priscilla Solis. “The Puritan Origins of the American Wilderness Movement.” National Humanities Center. 10 April 2006. http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/tserve/nattrans/ntwilderness/essays/puritan.htm.
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press. 1966.
“Managing Wilderness.” The Wilderness Society. 12 April 2006. <http://www.wilderness.org/ourissues/wilderness/managment.htm.
Vargas-Gatica, Ivan. Coon Russ. (2003) “The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau.” Northern Illinois University. 14 April 2006. www.thoreau.niu.edu/
Wilderness.net. 20 April 2006. http://www.wilderness.net./
