Emily Anstett (11/3/2022) Can Wilderness Be Found on a Wilderness Trail?

 I thought it was interesting how the paper introduced the ideas of humans “domesticating” the natural spaces they interact with.  In particular, as people go on a hike to “immerse” themselves in nature they bring their own values and culture to the space and impose these values on the living things of nature.  This can be problematic because it distances people from the wilderness they are experiencing because they experience it solely from their perspective.  

I think it is interesting to consider how nature itself is a human construct that has changed as culture has changed.  However, this begs the question of what is “natural?” The conception of what nature is has evolved to shift from describing humans to describing natural environments.  So, nature, as humans have constructed it, is given value because of culture.  However, the value that is imposed on natural spaces is conditional and dependent on culture.  Therefore, nature that does not conform to the aesthetic that culture values is undervalued and often degraded.  This presents the problem of how to experience nature beyond culture and without domesticating it.  Additionally how can humans better protect natural spaces without assigning it value based on their culture? Can Wilderness Be Found on A Wilderness Trail? describes the “art of backpacking” which allows humans to interact with wilderness without leaving a mark or attempting to impose their own values on it and domesticate it.  Therefore, humans need to experience wilderness as its own entity.  It is interesting to think of how removing our conceptions of nature behind can allow us to better appreciate wilderness.