Environmentalism Can’t Just Be About Protecting “Pristine” Areas
Developing sustainable societies requires us to recognize that humanity is part of nature too
Growing up, I was surrounded by what was commonly referred to as “wilderness”. Even the federal government had designated many of the areas located in the mountains visible from my home official “wilderness areas”. Their names alone — the Mt. Timpanogos Wilderness Area, the Mt. Nebo Wilderness Area, the Lone Peak Wilderness Area — evoked images in my young mind of landscapes that were at once pristine and mystical.
Over the years I indulged my imagination during hikes to some of their rocky summits along trails built during the New Deal Era by workers in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). These steep paths cut into the side of often rugged talus slopes seemed only slightly “unnatural” in the context of such stunning settings. But over time, I learned these wild places had lost native predators like the wolf and the grizzly and that the forests at their lower boundaries had been altered by decades of fire suppression. The word “wilderness” became a bit tarnished as a result — a reflection of a desire to get back to something that was rather than preserving something that is.
