While reading Philip Terrie’s Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the
Adirondacks, the following quote stood out to me:
It [Adirondack culture] acquired a
relatively new face after World War I in the guise of vacation-home
development, which brought together major, perhaps contradictory threads of the
Adirondack story: the lure or nature for recreation and personal redemption,
the appeal of nature to a large constituency financially able to reach and
enjoy it, the wish to appreciate nature away from the crowds of other people
attracted by the same nature, and the desire to make a profit exploiting nature
(144-145).
The issues that Terrie recognizes all have an impact on the
environment, especially through land development. They also bring up many
philosophical questions such as what wilderness is, who has the right to
control it, and how it should be treated.
While some people want to enjoy nature in its purest form,
others want to have their own part of it. If the money is there, many people
will choose to purchase and develop a small portion of the Adirondacks instead
of utilizing the public land as a shared space. This tendency might result from
the emphasis American society puts on materialism. It could also result from
the natural selfish tendencies of humans. Either way, the practice of
developing wilderness cannot continue indefinitely because the Earth only has a
finite amount of resources.
Another controversial topic deals with the question of if
people have the right to make a profit from the wilderness and, if so, whom
that right belongs to. The Adirondack Park has supported several industries
throughout its time, including activities such as trapping and hunting,
logging, and mining. Since people have a tendency towards anthropocentrism, they
commonly exploit resources just because they are available. While the
Adirondacks are protected and preserved as forever wild lands today, they were
not always that way. And many other places around the world are still taken
advantage of. However, climate change might be able to mitigate the intensity
with which people consume resources.
This particular quote from Terrie’s book is extremely
powerful, and it summarizes some of the main issues facing the Adirondack Park.
Not only does it apply within the blue line, but it also brings up larger
issues on a global scale. The Adirondack Park is connected to both the national
economy and culture, so areas such as this one cannot be forgotten about.
Works Cited
Terrie, Philip G.
Contested Terrain: A New History of
Nature and People in the Adirondacks. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
1997. Print.
I would like to thank Megan at the Hamilton College Writing
Center for helping me revise this blog post!
It is interesting that many find a need to buy a piece of land so they alone can enjoy nature. Wouldn't the simple fact that you own the land make it much less wild than it could be? Maybe it's the way we think about wildness and assume that it can only really be found in a national park or forest. Even more interesting is when some people buy land specifically to keep it wild. Although private ownership of land can assure that environmental degradation through overuse won't happen, it also reduces public interest in protecting the land, because the general public isn't allowed to enjoy it freely.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, your post exemplified an environmental concern I have had throughout our time learning about the Adirondacks. The Adirondacks have shown that, at least in the case of the United States, a plot of land as large as the Adirondack Park cannot simply be wild and public. As you mention, industries and battles of private land vs. public land are present in the park, and for the past century, have been the cause of great conflict.
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