"Today, there is no place in the lower 48 states farther than 30 miles from a road."
That is a quote from Ted Kerasote's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Wilderness". This quote not only got me thinking, but it made me a little angry. At first I almost didn't believe it. How could this really be true? Have we as a nation really tainted this beautiful place that much?
Indeed, there is a problem with the way we treat our environment. We have a misconstrued idea of our place on this earth. The fact that we have the ability to control where wilderness is and isn't doesn't make it right. We view nature as a "thing". As if it only exists when we want it to. Fencing it off and limiting where and when it can be experienced. It disgust me, and the more I learn about our pathetic "Holier Than Thou" ways the more enraged it makes me.
The fact is nature isn't something we can control forever, regardless of how big our egos are.
I love two things about this post.
ReplyDeleteMostly, I love the last sentence about how we cannot control nature forever. It brings to light that the environmental issues we are dealing within this class are in need of solutions, asap. That sentence is more of a call to action than anything. If this blog post was a movie, whatever scene followed that sentence would be dramatic for sure. I love it.
The other point made in this piece that I really like is that we cannot truly fence off nature and "limit where and when it can be experienced."
Nature exists regardless if we are here or not; it is more eternal than we are.
"Have we as a nation really tainted this beautiful place that much?"
ReplyDeleteFrom your post, it's pretty easy to tell that you're angered by how things are today, but taint is a strong word. I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but has humanity only tainted the land? Roads means access to people, yes, but if you agree with Cronon that wilderness is everywhere and not just in a closed off area, then roads don't seem to matter as much. There still exists nature, no matter the amount of roads. It has evolved, yes, and may no longer be in the same previous state, but it still is moving forward, adapting. So have we tainted it? Or, with some coaxing, could we help it to evolve, move past this point, and move into another stage? After all, if the forests around the Hocking Hills returned, why couldn't other areas recover?
"The fact that we have the ability to control where wilderness is and isn't doesn't make it right."
ReplyDeleteThat is so true. I mean we technically have the power to do anything we want with wilderness including changing our definition of it. That doesn't mean it should happen.
It is shocking and sad there isn't more than 30 miles of uninterrupted wilderness. Unfortunately, I think it will become even less in the future.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704508904575192070587875584.html