Ian was adamant that his best tool for deploying the highly contentious wilderness concept in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s would be the transcripts of the US Senate hearings that were mailed to him by Howard Zahniser, author of the US Wilderness Act of 1964. As a game ranger in the iMfolozi Game reserve, Ian carried those transcripts in his backpack as he patrolled what would soon become Africa’s first declared wilderness area. He read those transcripts every night by light of the campfire, accompanied by the sounds of the African night, and, as a result, “I knew every argument that could be made against the wilderness concept, and therefore how to deal with the immense opposition I knew I would face in the years ahead of me.” One of the most difficult issues encountered by the modern wilderness concept, wherever it is deployed, is the issue of the First Peoples whose cultures developed in wild nature so thoroughly, and were still inseparable from it, that they often have no equivalent to the word wilderness as we know it. Adding to this inescapable reality is the fact that the early pioneers of the wilderness concept were Anglos, of colonial descent, almost all of whom created an overamped veneer of elite recreation to the concept. Despite the almost universal element of spirituality of – or, at least, respect for – nature, wilderness still came off as something for the white, elite bushwalkers. This created a major issue with original indigenous stewards of the land and seas, as well as ample fuel for our adversaries, those who want to destroy the concept so that no lands are sacred and closed to human development. Mosley addresses these issues head-on, acknowledging mistakes made and honest attempts to resolve them – in the case of working with indigenous peoples – or in fighting and winning the inevitable battles – when dealing with developers and recalcitrant politicians. Rescuing The Wilderness deserves a place on your bookshelf, in a folder in your computer, and on a shelf in your local library.
Reviewed by VANCE G. MARTIN, president of the WILD Foundation, cochair of the Wilderness Specialist Group (IUCN) and editorial board of IJW; email: vance@wild.org
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International Journal of Wilderness | April 2019 | Volume 25, Number 1