The Trouble with Wilderness

The Environment and Us: Keeping the Scales Balanced

The topic of environmentalism has been a topic of heated debate for many years. Throughout the years the stances on addressing the protection and sustainment for the environment have varied greatly; some groups focus on the extremes of total protection and leaving lands simply untouched, others put their attention in the complete opposite and essentially fight off the stigma that this planet needs us to care for it. William Cronan enters this ongoing conversation with his essay, The Trouble with Wilderness. In the essay William Cronan thoroughly debates that wilderness is a false and disjointed ideology and his message is clear. Wilderness is not nature or large untouched plots of land to be awestruck by. Wilderness is a concept that is man-made to foster a false hope to secure and protect pristine landscapes in attempts to preserve the lands we deem worthy of protection. Although Cronan centers much of his discussion around wilderness and the meaning behind it, his main argument is focused on environmentalism. His stance is that with all of our time invested in pristine landscapes that of the more common or mundane get left to the wayside, essentially neglected from environmental protection. Although I support William Cronan’s viewpoint and argument on environmentalism regarding such things as national parks or protected lands, my thought is that the topic of environmentalism is a much broader subject to be considered. I argue that there needs to be balance between our environment and the people that share it. With discussion circling our nation’s parks, global trade, modern civilization and the worldwide economy that exists today smart and effective environmentalism is not about leaving no footprint; it’s about how we minimize the footprint in which we do leave.

        Let us first start with the National Park Service Act. This act was was introduced in August of 1916. Just as Cronan suggests, the act enabled the United Sates to secure and protect “pristine” lands that the people and government considered to be beautiful enough to protect and manage. So we shall focus on these pristine lands for a moment. When the National Park Service was first established a new sense of exploration for our spectacular country was born. Thousands of people travel across our great country to witness the awe and splendor that these monumental locations have to offer. So where does environmentalism come into play on the topic of our national parks? These lands are managed and up kept by government agencies with the sole focus on preserving the nature within the park’s borders. The lands are constantly being evaluated by teams to ensure not too great of an impact is being caused by the daily visitors. The wildlife that call these parks home are being monitored to ensure the arrival of people from across the country aren’t endangering these animals or their habitat. This is what makes striking a balance so crucial. We need to view environmentalism as an all-encompassing approach.