The idea of wilderness - untouched and pristine - is at the core of the American experience. Wilderness is a sanctuary to wildlife and a legacy for future generations, offering an opportunity for recreation and reflection. Many people liken immersing one’s self in nature to be a euphoric, almost religious experience. Spending time in the wilderness can be an important escape for many Americans, providing an opportunity to be one with nature. Not only is there inherent beauty to the wilderness itself, and the things in it, but there is also a significant amount of cultural and historical depth to wilderness. Especially to Native Americans, wilderness holds so much more than just an escape; wilderness represents their entire way of life. According to Matthew Preston, the relationship between biodiversity and culture are intimately linked. Therefore, the eradication of wilderness is destroying two very important things: the magnificence of the wilderness itself, and the cultural value of the biodiversity within this wilderness. Protecting wilderness is our ethical responsibility, both for the sake of Native American culture, and for our own sake. By allowing wilderness to be destroyed, humans are allowing natural beauty, and an entire culture, to be annihilated. Despite this responsibility, wilderness is constantly under attack. As global population growth continues to grow, more and more pressure is being placed on wilderness as a result of increased demand for natural resources, along with the land that these resources rest on. In light of these fragmenting habitats and human pressures via development, conservation of wilderness and Native American culture has become increasingly challenging. Amongst scholars, there is much debate ... ... middle of paper ... ...is to preserve and maintain parks and monuments under its jurisdiction, and does so under the rationale that these sites hold intrinsic value. The NPS clearly demonstrates its dedication to this mission through its protection of existing National Parks and monuments via park rangers, tax incentives/grants, and the education it provides regarding living together with nature. However, until recently the NPS has had a very negative relationship with Native American tribes. While the motive of removal of inhabitants from parklands was in the interest of land preservation, it was accompanied by intense racism. Natives’ rights were neglected in satisfying the public interest for the land. Even those who saw Native Americans as living symbiotically with the land, it was often accompanied by a popular belief that Indians were savage and drastically inferior to white people.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the idea of wilderness is at the core of the american experience. the relationship between biodiversity and culture is intimately linked.
- Analyzes how fernando villalba discusses the importance of integrating native americans wilderness conservation efforts.
- Argues that conservation and culture are linked, and that working with native americans to conserve wilderness is ethically responsible.
- Analyzes how villalba illustrates the positive effects of including native americans in conservation efforts, but todd tisdale paints a very different picture of native american's involvement.
- Analyzes how matthew preston's article connects the impact of specific, culturally significant, animal extinctions, to conservationists' need to include culture in the conservation equation.
- Analyzes how hyojung cho discusses the relationship native americans share with the u.s. government, and the political dynamics of indian policy developments within a twenty year span.
- Analyzes how andrew george provides excellent policy analysis of the national forest management in the united states, and how changes in policy have affected all u.s. citizens' ability to participate in management.
- Argues that conservation of wilderness encompasses all things of cultural significance, including the environment and animals dwelling within it, and that native american tribes should be involved in conservation efforts.
- Explains that the national park service is an agency of the united states federal government responsible for managing all national parks, many national monuments, and other sites of historical significance located in the us.
- Explains that the nps has roughly 400 national parks in the united states, all of which are maintained and protected by a collective of volunteers and full-time park rangers.
- Explains that the nps promotes outdoor recreation in its system of national parks through their website and on-site courses. this encourages sustainable living and an awareness of the impacts human life has on the environment.
- Explains the extent to which the nps meets its mission is measured through the number of existing national recreation trails and properties registered in the national register of historic places.
- Argues that the nps's primary goal is to preserve and maintain parks and monuments under its jurisdiction, and does so under the rationale that these sites hold intrinsic value.
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- opinion
- analytical
- explanatory
- argumentative
- comparative
- Wilderness: History and Valueopinion essayFrom the very beginning of this nation's history, wilderness has been a fundamental ingredient. The first European settlers found and battled against it upon their arrival. The western explorers and wagon trains sought to wrestle farmland from the wilderness's grip to build cities, farms and homes. It was not until the reality of its finite availability, that it was viewed as anything other than an opponent and menace. These changing attitudes began a new battle for preservation and protection of the wilderness that remained. The nation's attitude transformation was testimony to a new focus and value for wilderness. This new disposition declared that the preservation and maintenance of wilderness is instrumental to our own emotional, spiritual and biological survival.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the nation's attitude transformation was testimony to a new focus and value for wilderness.
- Explains that the first european settlers began an extensive nation wide war on wilderness upon their arrival on the eastern shore.
- Explains that explorers set forth, fueled by a notion called manifest destiny, which claimed that the christian dominance of the nation was god ordained.
- Explains that the wilderness act of 1964 recognized different areas for their remarkable wild and scenic beauty. in 1872, yellowstone was declared the first national park.
- Analyzes how leopold's influence in new mexico set in motion a movement toward more rigid wilderness preservation guidelines.
- Explains that the first serious movement toward that goal was the formation of the l-20 regulations in 1929, which was a forest service policy with an accompanying set of management regulations.
- Explains that the u-regulations tightened protection of approximately 14,000,000 acres of national forest land by designating it into three categories: wilderness, wild areas and roadless areas.
- Explains that howard zanhiser wrote a wilderness bill and it was revised and resubmitted 66 times. the bill was signed into law by president lyndon b. johnson on september 3, 1964.
- Explains the definition of wilderness in section 2c of the wilderness act.
- Defines wilderness as an area of undeveloped land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions.
- Explains that the wilderness act of 1964 was one of the most important milestones in the changing attitude of americans toward their wilderness areas.
- Opines that wilderness is a great place to connect with the country's past, because of its influence and shaping character toward national identity.
- Explains that wilderness is a place where the comforts of civilized life aren't found, but is for primitive recreation and minimal human manipulation. wilderness removes civilization and forces one to be self-dependent.
- Opines that wilderness is a place to reconnect with the non-human world as our culture continues to separate itself from the natural world through industrialization and development.
- Explains that wilderness is an extremely important value due to its undisturbed nature and its ability to protect endangered plants and animals. wilderness ecosystems are an important source of information and basis for comparing the world around us.
- Opines that wilderness and unstudied organisms destroy the capacity for new discovery and extension of biological understanding.
- Explains that large wild areas are needed and essential to animals' survival. wilderness areas may also harbor specific species and be established for that very reason.
- Opines that wilderness saves humans and animals from one trait of human nature-a desire to master and subdue everything.
- Argues that environmental ethics and wilderness preservation should be examined in the context of christian faith. biocentrism claims that non-human biological organisms and humans have similar rights.
- Compares anthropocentrism with the belief that humans are the highest beings and have the most rights to land and resource use. the needs of the natural systems are secondary to the desires of humanity.
- Argues that anthropocentric management cuts both the biological and human world short by limiting the natural world in the name of human interest.
- Opines that biocentrism does not fit completely within the scope of biblical teaching. it puts humans on the same level as non-human organisms.
- Explains that to manage and be stewards of wilderness and other land resources, we must extend the loving respect that the bible instructs, god extends to humans, and who continues to extend to the earth.
- Cites brower, david, stankey, george h., and lucas, robert c.
3253 wordsRead More - Native American Lifestyle Analysisanalytical essayThe American prairies once belonged to no one; the once bountiful Native tribesmen that roamed the lands didn’t even believe in owning it. These wanderers of the flourished lands grazed like their own prey on the young lands with simple living objectives; now they can be founded cooped up in wastelands like a caged animal. The event between these lifestyles comes from the progress of man itself; however, the Native American had difficulty accepting these life change with hard stubbornness. Columbus's first landing, the Trail of Tears, and countless protection laws only to be broken down the line harmed the Natives all but spiritually . Now with this viewpoint of the Native’s tragic past,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the modern outlook of the native american lifestyle in the american prairies.
- Explains that the native americans' defecative relationship comes from the obligations and treaties being broken during the 1960's civil rights movement.
- Explains that the living conditions of the native people are far worse than other low-class american.
- Analyzes how the laws of the reservations gave way to improper use of money and poor employment. the indian health service facilities are inadequate to perform daily diagnosis with no pharmacies and doctor's offices.
- Explains that native americans were put on unwanted lands only to be trended on once again for generations. their traditions and government aid keeps them alive, and most families accept family members or anyone who needs refuge.
889 wordsRead More - When the first settlers arrived in the New World, they attempted to transplant the European societal practices to which they were accustomed, but learned quickly that the wilderness of North America did not accommodate them. What resulted was the formati...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the conflict at lexington and concord unleashed resentment that had been building over the right of the colonies to govern themselves.
- Analyzes how the colonial militiamen lacked sufficient training and equipment, whereas the continental army was promised supplies. drinking was a common practice among americans and all armies of the 18th century.
- Argues that the colonial militia had a relatively low desertion rate and many continental "bounty jumpers" who signed up in one army unit after another to collect the sign-up monies.
- Argues that the debate about whether the colonial militia or the continental army deserves the most recognition in the war effort might never be settled.
- Analyzes how the colonists' resentment for the british after the french and indian war led to a sharp decline in volunteer enlistment. they also point to the growing animosity between the civilians and the soldiers.
- Explains that skepticism about the ability of the colonial militia abounded among both british and american officers.
2038 wordsRead More - Review For The Woodlands Indians In The Western Great Lakesanalytical essayIn each of the ten chapters that comprise this book, the authors address important features of the Woodlands Indians’ way of life that ensure their survival. They address such important issues as how they are able to find enough food to subsist and what exactly they do eat to subsist; as well as going into topics such as their religious beliefs, traditional ceremonies, their beliefs regarding shamanism and curative techniques, their material culture, games, music, and folklore that is important to them and influences who they are as a people. Throughout the book, each of these themes are explored at length as distinguishing aspects attributed to the Woodlands Region, and are defined in clear detail as they pertain to different periods in their history of humankind in North America.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the woodlands indians in the western great lakes.
- Analyzes how s address important aspects of the woodlands indians' way of life that ensure their survival, such as their religious beliefs, traditional ceremonies, shamanism and curative techniques, material culture, games, music, and folklore.
- Explains that the woodlands indians lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle involving hunting, fishing, and gathering wild foods. they also practiced religious and ceremonial life.
- Analyzes how shamanism and curative techniques were used to cure and prevent illnesses and afflictions. they conclude the book with a section on folklore, which details the myths of this culture.
- Analyzes how the ritzenthalers' goal throughout this book is to inform the popular audience of a tribe of north american indians who have been largely neglected by anthropologists and authors.
- Analyzes how s organized the work in such a way that makes it easy for one to find information regarding different aspects of the culture.
- Explains that the book supplements the information presented with instructional tools that help the reader fully understand the concepts presented in the work.
- Opines that ritzenthaler's study would have been more effective if the introduction to "the forest and the prairie" was more captivating.
1520 wordsRead More - A bird sits on top of its nest and gazes out at the morning sun. Her eggs are safely snuggled underneath her. Then there is a loud sound of a chainsaw. The whole tree starts to shake. The bird is in panic, if see leaves she will lose her eggs if she stays she might die. The tree all of a sudden falls like a bowling ball in the air. The bird looks for her eggs and sees then lying on the ground. Cracks in every egg bring great sorrow to the bird. The once bright future has become a chaotic doom. This essay will use audience, purpose, and situation and claims to prove Wilderness preservation is the key to the article, The Puritan Origins of the American Wilderness Movement,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how a bird sits on top of its nest and gazes out at the morning sun. the bird is in panic, if she sees leaves she might lose her eggs.
- Opines that the article's target audience is the general public. the article is beaming with information of the original thoughts behind saving key parts of our natural environment.
- Explains the purpose of the article was to gain followers and teach them about the origins of wilderness preservation. the article sets up a mindset that makes you want lean more towards saving the wilderness.
- Analyzes how the article discusses the battle between saving the wilderness and utilizing its components to benefit mankind.
- Analyzes the claim that god wanted us to change the landscape of nature. puritans believed it was their right as followers of god to add to the environment.
- Opines that after reading the article, their vote will remain with saving the wilderness. they ask readers to take a stand for what they believe when it comes to wilderness preservation.
721 wordsRead More - Agriculture: Industrial or Organicexplanatory essayIn earlier years, observing nature brought happiness. One look around at the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee or at Lindsey’s Rainbow Farm in Arkansas showed everything the world offered—tall grassy fields, magnificent black bears, chilly fall nights, clear streams, slimy trout, and the warmth of the sun on my face at sunset. Breathtaking sights awaited us around every corner. Nature seemed endless. Today, places such as these appear to be found less and less. With the expansion of not only civilization but also its economy, Americans slowly destroy the once symbiotic relationship between nature and community. Americans face such a difficult situation due to the way we live our lives—specifically, the way we obtain our food.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that with the expansion of civilization and its economy, americans slowly destroy the once symbiotic relationship between nature and community.
- Explains how society created a system in nature where animals and farming actually ruin the land, the same land that was once so cherished by our ancestors.
- Explains that industrial farming is highly mechanized and harms the environment. big organic farms use crop rotations and less chemicals, but remain detrimental to the animals and land.
- Explains how joel salatin created polyface, inc., a large community farm, which uses plants and animals to ensure land remains fertile and able to sustain the next cycle of growth.
- Explains that community farms preserve an excellent environment for the growth of varieties of plants by allowing the earth to reproduce and cultivate.
- Explains that higher quality soil benefits farmers in a myriad of ways, such as disposing of outside chemicals to aid in the growth of their plants, and relying on all natural fertilizers.
- Explains that small scale farms promote the local economy by cutting the middleman out of the relationship between the buyer and the producer.
- Explains that buying directly from these producers allows people to acquaint themselves with the location of where the food is grown as well as the people who actually grow it.
- Explains that natural agriculture encompasses many benefits, but organic farming also contains numerous hidden costs that are quite detrimental to the overall system.
- Opines that the cost of a natural agriculture system is incomparable to the benefits, but it is impractical. without change, our nation cannot sustain itself using it.
- Opines that for natural agriculture to become a possibility, we must change the system. subsidizing local farmers would guarantee land preservation and healthy foods at cheaper costs.
1462 wordsRead More - Comparing Letter To President Pierce And Children In The Woodargumentative essayIn this world, there are some people who love nature, but there are still some people who misuse and destroy natural resources. Many articles have been written on those themes. Among them, Chief Seattle explains how human beings are destroying nature in his “Letter to President Pierce,” whereas Barry Lopez mentions and appreciates the good of nature in the article “Children in the Wood.” Chief Seattle is from Washington and became the chief of his native people from Dewamish and Pacific Northwest tribes in order to supervise his tribes and protect nature (Seattle 648). In contrast, since Barry Lopez is from New York City, he grew up in dense cities that made him a nature lover. In the world, people are destroying natural resources; although, they can find many useful sources from natural resources if preserved properly. Both essays “Letter to President Pierce” and “Children in the Wood” elaborate the benefits of preserving natural resources for the human kind because Seattle mentions possible adverse
In this essay, the author
- Compares the views of chief seattle and barry lopez on how humans are destroying natural resources.
- Explains that seattle is concerned about the exploitation of the natural world caused by human activities.
- Explains that lopez's article "children in the wood" is to discover the meaning of life and something that is part of self in a beautiful natural world.
- Analyzes how both authors have made an argument about how nature is beneficial to living beings. chief seattle argues that people are destroying natures and don't care about it.
- Compares the similarities between the two essays, stating that both authors are naturalists and show their love for nature.
- Explains that it is important for people to know the differences between nature and cities because everyone discovers peace when spend life in nature, making it a sweet home for all living creatures.
953 wordsRead More - Comparison Of John Muir, Gifford Pinchot And Aldo Leopoldcomparative essayJohn Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold all have moderately different views and ideas about the environment in terms of its worth, purpose, use and protection. At one extensively non-anthropocentric extreme, Muir’s views and ideas placed emphasis on protecting environmental areas as a moral obligation. That is to say, Muir believed that wilderness environments should be used for divine transcendence, spiritual contemplation, as a place for repenting sins and obtaining devotional healing, rather than being used for exploitative materialistic greed and destructive consumption, such as industrialism, mining, and lumbering. At the other extreme, anthropocentric, Pinchot views nature simply as natural resources. In other words, nature is explicitly
In this essay, the author
- Compares the views of john muir, gifford pinchot, and aldo leopold about the environment, its worth, purpose, use and protection.
254 wordsRead More - Mr Cronon The Trouble With Wilderness Analysisanalytical essayMr. Cronon, in his article “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” argues that people need to change the way they think about wilderness also people should be part of it. Cronon gives his definition of wilderness when he looks wilderness from different perspectives such as History, religion experience and human life. Also, Mr Crosby, in his article, “Ecological Imperialism: The Overseas Migration of Western Europeans as a Biological Phenomenon” states that how Europeans demographic takeover in some areas. He examines four categories of organism which are involved in European expansion. The four categories are human beings, animals, disease and weeds. These two articles gives me a different view about nature. While
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how cronon's article "the trouble with wilderness: or, getting back to the wrong nature" argues that people need to change the way they think about wilderness and people should be part of it.
- Opines that cronon's article illustrates what is the real wilderness, and agrees with him. people protect nature by setting up national parks and moving the original inhabitant.
390 wordsRead More - Response To Cronon: The Social Constructionanalytical essayto Cronon (1995), the social construction around nature is nature as contested terrain. Cronon describes how people’s beliefs and culture shape their views on nature all throughout this essay. Just as cultures differ so do their views on nature and how they think nature is best used. Some people think nature should exploited to better serve humans while others think it should be preserved and still others lie somewhere in the
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how cronon describes how people's beliefs and culture shape their views on nature throughout this essay.
72 wordsRead More