Through the Historical Looking Glass: The Wilderness Movement

11/18/24

This webinar is part of a series hosted by the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and features Michelle Reilly, PhD, of the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center. Michelle’s presentation reflects the Center’s mission to equip and inspire agency leaders and partners to ensure the enduring legacy of the National Wilderness Preservation System. 

Abstract

The history of the Wilderness Act is not without struggle, requiring many hearings, re-drafting, and compromises. Despite the growth of the system and reaffirmation of the idea, criticisms have persisted for decades. This presentation will use historical documents to provide context to the drafting of the wilderness bills and the Wilderness Act itself. Three persistent criticisms will be discussed: 1) that the Act perpetuates a dichotomy between man and nature, 2) that untrammeled Wilderness refers to pure, un-peopled nature, and 3) that Wilderness is a cultural artifact that eclipses indigenous presence on the land. The intentions of the Act’s authors are not known. We can only research and interpret the paper trail, the interviews, and the recording that were left behind. The goal of this presentation is to use historical documents to search for answers to questions such as: Where do these criticism stem from? And are they warranted? Are they a product of imagined resource scarcity?