Poetic Preservation The Necessity of Wilderness
Chris Case
By Steve Smith, The Wilderness Society
“…An
area where the earth and its
community of life are untrammeled by man… retaining its primeval character and influence...”
Such evocative phrasing might come from an essayist contemplating the wonder and glory of nature unfettered, or perhaps a promotional discourse luring visitors to explore exotic and faraway places. 18
Trail & Timberline
Actually, that eloquent passage is in federal law. The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the world’s first, deliberate system of permanently preserved wildlands, here in the United States, establishing specific requirements and limits for identifying, maintaining, and protectively managing those increasingly rare spots on Earth.
Unique among federal statutes, this one managed to also engage some poetry—bubbling from the enthusiasm of wilderness advocates who worked for 30 years toward its passage—and reflected the breathtaking and contemplative richness of deep backcountry. The law went on: “In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechani-