irony

Irony of Victory

In Alaska we had people who don't think we should preserve wilderness because that land could benefit humans.
Nash has told the historical story of American get to the point of believing we should preserve wilderness--now we have gotten there:

where exactly are we?
what is the impact?
what do we mean by it?

But even the people who think we should preserve wilderness may be damaging it.
The valuing of wilderness may be leading to harming it.

Has wilderness become so popular that it is harming the wilderness?
it isn't wilderness any more if it is overrun with people
this is the irony
what is the deeper connection we aren't recognizing when we see something as irony

what should you do if bears attack campers?

relocate the bears
put up signs warning people
relocate the campers--not allow people in that area
kill the bears
educate the campers to avoid encouraging the bears
going into the wilderness is risky and that is part of the experience

John Muir favored roads on the theory that more visitors meant more supporters for preservation, but the number of visitors clearly became a problem

Four revolutions:

intellectual revolution: a fully formed philosophy of the value of wilderness was in place by 1970--this has been the topic of Nash's book
revolution in equipment: backpacking depends on modern lightweight materials
revolution in transportation: highways make it possible to get to entry points quickly
information revolution: detailed information to plan a trip is easily available (consider the further revolution of GPS systems that tell you where you are at any time)

The automobile made it possible for people to explore American scenery

Yellowstone and a few other early parks were served by railroads, but it was the automobile that popularized traveling to see natural wonders
as consumer culture became stronger Americans attached a higher value to doing something special with their leisure time and outdoor recreation boomed in popularity along with nature tourism
automobile tourism grew rapidly in the 1910s and 1920s (along with the necessary infrastructure such as motels and campgrounds)
during and after WWI there was an advertising campaign promoting the idea "see America first"--it became a part of being proud of being an American to see some list of famous sites
Visits to national parks increased 4-fold during the 1920s.
the automobile created all sorts of new popular culture

The first drive-in movie opened in 1933 in New Jersey--by the early 1950s there were 4,000 of them. A&W root beer stands
The first drive-in restaurant was either Bob's Boy in 1936 or Royce Hailey's Pig Stand in Dallas Texas in the early 1940s (by the 1960s these were haunts for rowdy teenagers and families were looking for another alternative--the chain fast-food restaurant)
roadside architecture , roadside stores with giant cows , world's largest sixpack , and of course our very own peachoid

California opened its first freeway in 1940. In 1947 the state passed a law that expanded the 19 miles of freeway to 300 miles ten years later--by 1980 there were 12,500 miles. 54% of the funding came from the state gasoline tax.
Disneyland opened in 1955--the model for a new generation of amusement parks linked to highways rather than streetcars or trains.
Chain motels displaced the old local motor courts--the first Holiday Inn was opened in 1952.
The interstate highway system began as a cold war idea, with the idea that federal funding was needed to have a system that would allow easy movement of troops. Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 committed the country to spending $50 billion to construct 41,000 miles of interstate highways. Good deal for the states--the federal gov't paid 90% of the costs. By 1973 82% had been constructed. engineering marvels of the interstate highway system
people quickly began to complain that when they went off in their automobile to get away from it all they found themselves surrounded by automobiles and tourist businesses

How to manage all the people who want to visit the wilderness?

teach users rules (which change over time--to many people taking firewood becomes a problem, eventually you get to the idea of carrying everying out) usually called low impact or leave no trace
whether to build trails and shelters, but then it isn't wilderness any more

Appalacian Mountain Club shelters--concentrate people instead of having them camp out
you reduce the damage those people do to the woods

limit the number of people who can use an area

photograph of Kings Canyon in snow by Ansel Adams

Photograph of Kings Canyon by Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams became a key advocate for roadless areas in the 1930s

argued against making the National Parks into resorts
Kings Canyon had no roads and provided no visitor services
biocentric management--put the preservation of naturalness first and recreation second
this led to the setting aside of wilderness areas
works for a while, but eventually you have too many visitors even if you don't make it easy--do you limit access?
should dangerous animals be removed?

By 1979 Grand Canyon National Park limited the number of people allowed to raft the river and banned motorized rafts

companies that ran raft expeditions protested this threat to their livelihood
protested even more the ban on motorized rafts

against: pollutes the water, loud noise disturbs natural experience, kill fish, takes away the purpose of rafting, in a faster motorized raft you don't see as much
in favor: allows people with physical limitations to experience a raft trip, motor would make the trip safer, safer for kids, makes the trip quicker so possible for more people, more exciting

an amendment was passed in Congress stopping the ban from going into effect
even the limit on number of trips were controversial, particularly as large outfitters controlled 92%

Tension between access and a natural experience
if parks are paid for by taxpayers shouldn't people be able to use them
to have public opinion in favor of parks, it is best to encourage people to visit
if you have more people using a wilderness area you will need some kind of management
Even beyond that, wilderness management is a contradiction in terms
what happened to the wildness if the area is managed by humans?

This page written and copyright Pamela E. Mack

last updated 3/11/09
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