"Wilderness and the American Mind"

Paper Summary:

In the book "Wilderness and the American Mind" by Roderick Nash, the author writes that the attitudes of Americans towards the dichotomy between wilderness and civilization have shifted over time. The book shows how Nash analyzes the reasons for the shift, the nature of the shift and the possible direction for the future. The paper discusses how different attitudes toward the wilderness can be seen as different themes in American history and they are not entirely distinct in time, meaning that they may exist at one and the same time, though one or another will dominate and so be the mark of the age. The wilderness has been seen as something "evil," something to be conquered and tamed. The wilderness can be seen as something involving a form of communion, indicating a belief in the spiritual nature of the wilderness. More recently, the wilderness is depicted as endangered and as something to be preserved and protected.

From the Paper:

"This idea would continue to infuse the environmental movement as it shifted to the protectionist mode, for there is often a quasi-religious aura to some of the more radical environmental groups that see protecting the wilderness as a religious act. The idea of protecting the wilderness and preserving it for the future also began in the nineteenth century with the work of men like Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York City's Central Park. By the end of the nineteenth century, the work of men like John Muir contributed to the movement to preserve lands as part of a national park system. When these lands were first designated a national forests, it was clear that they had been set aside for consumptive uses, but new priorities and new forces later brought into question many of the traditional guidelines for the use of this land."

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