This past Sunday I spent part of
my evening talking to Nancy Walker Bush Ellis, president George H. W. Bush’s
only sister. She is 89 years old and lives in Boston, which is where I met her
at a dinner held after my godfather’s faculty concert. We ended up talking
about something that has been coming up again and again in Terrie’s writing –
the threat of increased tourism on the value and beauty of a particular area.
She has a home in Kennebunkport, and was telling me about how disappointed she
was about the tourists and souvenir shops that came with them. This initially
came as a surprise, but made more sense when I read up on her environmental
actions that I previously knew nothing about.
She told me about Walker’s Point in particular, which is an
oceanfront view of the Bush’s summer home--one of the hottest tourist attractions
in Kennebunkport. Once little-known and unoccupied, the site now attracts tons
of people looking for a scenic drive, not unlike the road up Whiteface. We discussed
how difficult it is to balance local economic needs while preserving an area
whose natural beauty attracts an increasing, and often harmful, amount of human
traffic. At this point in the semester, I have no doubt that the Adirondack
Park provides a global case study for this particular dilemma, but this is the
first example I have stumbled upon on my own. At some point during the
conversation, she asked me if this type of management was a field I’d be
interested in pursuing as a career. I replied in all honesty that I had no idea
what I was doing with my life, but that it was a possibility. Upon leaving
later that night, she said, “Have a thrilling life!”
This reminds me a lot of mine and Emma's final project about Seneca Ray Stoddard, whose photographs and writings often drew tourists to the areas that he celebrated for being so wild and secluded. We've seen this sort of tourist overhauling of a beloved, largely unsettled region time and time again, like with the tourist influx after Adirondack Murray's guidebook and the recreation-seekers following Phil Brown's footsteps at Mud Pond. All this just reiterates the paradox that appreciating the Adirondack wilderness often leads to degrading the integrity of that wilderness--the constant tension between wilderness and playground.
ReplyDeleteWow Meelz!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity to talk to someone who's seen this debate come up in real time. It's an interesting paradox: the value of a beautiful spot depreciating because it has too many admirers. And like you said this threat is present in the Adirondacks as well. Not just with regard to Whiteface mountain (as you mentioned) but also in places like Tupper Lake and Lake Placid.
Hayley, you describe this really well and Adirondack Murray and Phil Brown are great examples of people who have catalyzed and added fuel to controversies centered around this paradox. Can't wait to hear more about Seneca Ray Stoddard!