Anthropocentric Thinking Persists

            It's amazing to me what an effect a first impression can have. In the late 18th century, as Terrie described in the reading, many new settlers, mainly farmers, were moving into the Adirondack Park from New York and New England. Upon their arrival, these settlers began looking to start farms to support their families, and began clearing trees and brush in order to make room for their crops and animals. Typically, these were poorer farmers who did not possess the funds to seek out better agricultural land in the west, and settled for the "cheap and abundant land in a little-known, barely explored norther corner of New York." (Terrie, 24) Coming to the Adirondacks for the first time, the new settlers saw the Adirondack forest as "both a resource and an obstacle to their own prosperity." (Terrie, 29) This original assessment is entirely based upon the needs of humans. It is an opinion formed around human entrance to the park, and doesn't take the forests themselves into account. At this point, many of these new settlers didn't see the point in maintaining the forest. To them, the actual forest was arbitrary, even inconvenient, if it wasn't being used.
            Even more concerning than viewing the wilderness on human terms, these new settlers seemed to see the forest as inexhaustible. According to one Adirondack resident, Martin Byrne, "there was always wood" (Terrie, 29) to be used for various things around the house, and "there was always another wood lot to be cleared" (Terrie, 29) to make space for more farmland. His use of the word always implies that the settlers assumed that these trees were never ending, and could never be used up. This understanding of the forest is also depicted by the rapid growth of the logging industry, especially with the development of new forms of transportation, and the overuse of the land by incoming tourists, a few years later.
             I think this original judgement of the Adirondacks has created an underlying idea of how the land should be used and treated. Obviously, in recent years we have come to a larger understanding of the importance of conserving the land. However, this anthropocentric way of thinking has lasted, and we tend to base our reasoning for conserving or utilizing the land on ourselves, allowing our needs and conveniences to determine the fate of the wilderness.