1. The darker markings on the new art building are supposed to represent trees.
2. We kill and replant replant the Dunham quad (and other trees and grass) at our leisure.
This weeks class has really brought to light the way that we try to control our environment on a large scale in the Adirondacks. Not only that, we do it on a small scale. A scale so small it can be seen on our campus' quads and state of the art buildings. I supposed Ive been living in ignorance, walking across campus on our green grasses without even thinking about the fact that every year we killed it, and every year we planted it again. I now realize that I have been living in oblivion of the way that we as humans have taken control of every inch of our surroundings, even our surroundings that we consider part of nature.
In the summer I live in Pennsylvania in a small community that continues to become more and more developed. As more lots are built on, this quaint country house getaway has begun to feel more like a suburb. Lawns and kitchen gardens have become the norm. Some people growing vegetables and perennial flowers put up fences, others have called for a deer cull. Five years ago the cull started. My wooded getaway, which was once a place where deer roamed in the hundreds, has now become a place where I can go an entire summer without seeing one. And what for? So we can grow cucumbers in our back yard and black eyed susans in the front? What give us the right to play god? To determine which animals to kill by the hundreds in the dark of night?
Interesting point--humans seem to have a tendency to alter their surroundings out of necessity or comfort. However, doesn't the case of land use in the Adirondack Park suggest that there are some landscapes on which humans are incapable of leaving a lasting impact?
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