Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
therefore, be churlish to be too critical of Muir, or indeed of other
wilderness writers such as Thoreau, as they were on a mission to save the
remnants of primaeval nature, which had intrinsic value and which was
under growing threat. It was their inspired writings that captured the
imagination of readers sufficiently to lead to the establishment of the
world's first national parks in Yellowstone in 1872, and later in Yosemite
in 1890.
The harm that has been done lies in the perpetuation of a notion that
we are separate from nature. Ironically, this is the very modernist problem
that these writers were trying to oppose. The argument goes like this: as
nature is separate from us, so it should be strictly protected in pockets and
patches away from human activity. If it is protected, then we can shrug
our shoulders at damaging economic activity in the surrounding land-
scape. This is enclave thinking, and it is a simplistic narrative: let the
farming and food production occur in one place, and let it do as it
wishes. 36 The more productive it is, the less pressure is put on wildernesses
and parks. This dichotomy of thought and action is damaging, both to
farming and to the preservation and conservation of nature. It is built on
the idea that nature which exists on agricultural land is largely worthless.
But what about the tens of millions of monarch butterflies that migrate
across the American plains, to and from Mexico each year, or the bio-
diversity that flourishes in urban gardens? It is also built upon the idea
that wildernesses exist untouched and unshaped by humans, and should
be maintained that way. This is a serious myth of disconnection. It has
led to great damage. It is now time to rethink these connections. 37
The world's first formal protected area was established on 1 March
1872, when US President Ulysses Grant designated 900,000 hectares of
north-west Wyoming as the Yellowstone National Park. The next to
appear was in 1885 when the state of New York set aside nearly 300,000
hectares of the Adirondacks as a forest preserve. In neither case was the
conservation of nature and wilderness the primary goal. At Yellowstone,
the aim was to limit private companies from acquiring the geysers and hot
springs. In the east, New York City's concern was to maintain its water-
sheds and drinking water supply. These protected areas were followed
by the 1890 designation of Yosemite National Park, and the 1891
amendment to the act revising land laws that permitted the president to
create more forest reserves (later named national forests). Subsequently,
President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed 15 reserves over more than 5
million hectares. But reversals soon followed designations, such as the
1897 Forest Management Act that allowed reserves to be cleared for
timber extraction. Such advances and reversals have continued to the
present day. 38
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