Great Camp Guilt

Reflecting on last class, I can't help feeling guilty about the exorbitant amount of resources that I planned to use in the design for my great camp. All semester we've studied how human beings have taken advantage of Adirondack land and altered the wilderness, and yet my ideal Adirondack camp is a multistory treehouse that would destroy much of the ecosystem around it. I am ashamed, both of the damage that my great camp would cause to Adirondack land and of my need for modern amenities. It is hugely ironic that I would recommend existing great camps be left to rot for their negative impact on nature and yet design a vision of "wilderness" that includes all the luxuries of a modern home.

Looking over my group's design drawing, I found that almost every aspect of our camp had potential negative impacts on the land around it.  The foundation of our camp, consisting of houses supported by two separate trees, would greatly alter habitats for many Adirondack species and put a huge strain on the trees themselves. The house would likely produce a lot of waste that, if not properly disposed of, could poison the land around the trees and make it uninhabitable. The river passing by the two trees would be interrupted by the water wheel that we optimistically designed for renewable energy, possibly altering the migration patterns of spawning fish. The chair lift to the front door is an unnecessary waste of fuel and would require the clearing of a path through the trees in order to function. The chair lift also features windmills on top of each chair that would likely produce little energy being below the treeline and shielded from the wind, but might be hazardous for passing birds. Overall, I can imagine the camp being very comfortable for humans but an enormous strain on the environment.

I am also ashamed of the principle set by my camp that modern luxuries are needed to enjoy the wilderness. I like to believe that I share Bill McKibben's romantic view of nature as something that should be respected and kept separate from society, but my ideal great camp design challenges this belief. With all of its comforts and features, the treehouse would hugely impact the land and would inject suburban living into what was previously wild. If my great camp was built, the land around it could no longer be considered "wilderness", and I hope that any design similar to mine will never be given a permit to be built.