Haha-good plan! Growing up in the Midwest made it easy to forget that "big water" exists, but spending the last three years in Virginia has fixed that.
swings both ways...usually when the realization has been made that something has been taken too far...the push comes to move it back. Usually by applying too much force and going overboard the other way. I think we have done this with nature and wilderness too. We lived in harmony with nature for many, many years and then, Americans discovered it...used it...overused it...abused it...and (it appears) destroyed it. Now that we see this...we have all of these national parks and other reserves to "preserve" and "replace" what was destroyed...
What I find interesting is that no matter WHAT humans do, how badly we "destroy" our natural surroundings...nature always comes back, adapts, and learns to live despite what we've done. The point above that some of the wilderness is becuase of what we have done...is true. We do this...and nature does that to bring it all into balance again. I don't know that it's a matter of one OVER the other...I think it's more both living TOGETHER. Remember, nature doesn't only include flora and fauna...it includes us too...
Thanks for your thoughts. You've brought up one of the overarching concerns in the environmental debate, and it'd be nice if we had a method for objectively valuing nature and further development. But if we had that, then we could probably do away with the debate, too.
As to this point: "nature always comes back, adapts, and learns to live despite what we've done."
Nature does, but with different species and scenery, and from human/some other species' perspective it may make a huge difference. In Poland, where I live, today's Tatra Mts look wild enough to feel good within the park (though it's far from wilderness) while towards the end of the 19th century iron was smelted there and the original forest was cut down - most people today are actually unaware of that fact) But the loss of forest in the Mediterranean or Wales, the latter depicted in detail by Dan, is irreversible, for us and dozens of generations to come at least. I do charge my batteries inside woodland and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Nice write-up on the sanctity of wildness. It's kinda scary to think that ever since that article in Science appeared back in May 2007 identifying that remote location in Wyoming as the most distant place from roads left in the conterminous US if that might have a negative effect on the place. There's a reason the forest service doesn't identify the Methuselah Tree in the White mountains.
Thanks, and yeah, that's a concern I've shared with several people on this site. Does putting up a page on a remote mountain range ensure its eventual popularity? I'm not sure... Bob Sihler's probably the better person to ask on that one.
magicdufflepud - Dec 15, 2008 7:58 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: nice articleHaha-good plan! Growing up in the Midwest made it easy to forget that "big water" exists, but spending the last three years in Virginia has fixed that.
yatsek - Dec 16, 2008 9:56 am - Voted 10/10
Re: nice articleDon't forget the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: very tall and probably not climbed yet.
imzadi - Dec 16, 2008 9:58 am - Voted 10/10
The pendulum...swings both ways...usually when the realization has been made that something has been taken too far...the push comes to move it back. Usually by applying too much force and going overboard the other way. I think we have done this with nature and wilderness too. We lived in harmony with nature for many, many years and then, Americans discovered it...used it...overused it...abused it...and (it appears) destroyed it. Now that we see this...we have all of these national parks and other reserves to "preserve" and "replace" what was destroyed...
What I find interesting is that no matter WHAT humans do, how badly we "destroy" our natural surroundings...nature always comes back, adapts, and learns to live despite what we've done. The point above that some of the wilderness is becuase of what we have done...is true. We do this...and nature does that to bring it all into balance again. I don't know that it's a matter of one OVER the other...I think it's more both living TOGETHER. Remember, nature doesn't only include flora and fauna...it includes us too...
magicdufflepud - Dec 16, 2008 11:35 am - Hasn't voted
Re: The pendulum...Thanks for your thoughts. You've brought up one of the overarching concerns in the environmental debate, and it'd be nice if we had a method for objectively valuing nature and further development. But if we had that, then we could probably do away with the debate, too.
yatsek - Dec 16, 2008 12:59 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: The pendulum...As to this point: "nature always comes back, adapts, and learns to live despite what we've done."
Nature does, but with different species and scenery, and from human/some other species' perspective it may make a huge difference. In Poland, where I live, today's Tatra Mts look wild enough to feel good within the park (though it's far from wilderness) while towards the end of the 19th century iron was smelted there and the original forest was cut down - most people today are actually unaware of that fact) But the loss of forest in the Mediterranean or Wales, the latter depicted in detail by Dan, is irreversible, for us and dozens of generations to come at least. I do charge my batteries inside woodland and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
395guy - Dec 18, 2008 5:35 pm - Hasn't voted
Nice write-upNice write-up on the sanctity of wildness. It's kinda scary to think that ever since that article in Science appeared back in May 2007 identifying that remote location in Wyoming as the most distant place from roads left in the conterminous US if that might have a negative effect on the place. There's a reason the forest service doesn't identify the Methuselah Tree in the White mountains.
magicdufflepud - Dec 19, 2008 9:07 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice write-upThanks, and yeah, that's a concern I've shared with several people on this site. Does putting up a page on a remote mountain range ensure its eventual popularity? I'm not sure... Bob Sihler's probably the better person to ask on that one.