Wilderness in the Circumpolar North: Searching for Compatibility in Ecological, Traditional, and Ecotourism Values (original) (raw)
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2012
Nature has fascinated me since childhood. Many a Sunday afternoon would find several of us boys headed for the woods to explore and ... be boys. The beginnings of the mountains of western North Carolina were at our back doors – out and up we would go. In deciding where to go to college and what to study, I followed this interest in nature into early adulthood. I selected North Carolina State University and majored in forestry. My senior paper was on wilderness, whereas most of the papers by classmates were about timber and growing pines faster. Later, while comajoring in forestry and economics, I did my dissertation on urban open land, including, of course, public parks. Throughout my career, I have observed and valued the public lands of this country, and have come to appreciate their importance more and more. My research has always had some wilderness content, as well as content about other protected public lands. One of my ongoing studies looked at Americans’ values toward wilder...
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2011
Since the late nineteenth century, decisionmakers and conservation groups have devoted a great deal of time and energy to preserving parks and other natural places. The Wilderness Act of 1964 is the closest thing to a “purist manifesto” to be found in U.S. environmental law and, by protecting lands that are both natural and untrammeled, the wilderness system represents the nation’s highest preservation ideal. The strategy of setting aside wilderness areas has served the nation well in the past. It is not clear, however, that staying the course will prove to be a viable conservation strategy in a future where rapid and dramatic changes in climate are threatening the ability of ecological communities and processes to persist. Adaptation strategies that promote resilient ecosystem responses to climate change are imperative. In some places, such strategies may include active intervention to foster transitions to more resilient ecological communities. The need for adaptation strategies r...
Growing pressures on circumpolar north wilderness: a case for coordinated research and education
Pressures are growing on undeveloped (wild) places in the Circumpolar North. Among them are economic development, oil and gas exploration and extraction, development of geothermal energy resources, development of heavy industry close to energy sources, and lack of appreciation for "other" orientations toward wilderness resources. An international seminar in Anchorage, Alaska, in May of 2001, was the first step in providing basic input to an analysis of values associated with Circumpolar North wilderness and the constraints and contributors (factors of influence) that either limit or facilitate receipt of those values to various segments of society. This paper proposes an agenda for research, education, methodology development, and establishment of a cooperative infrastructure for accomplishment of these tasks.
Wilderness Social Science Responding to Change in Society, Policy, and the Environment
2014
Wilderness social science has changed over the 50 years since passage of the Wilderness Act. This research was initially heavily influenced by the need to operationalize definitions contained in the Wilderness Act, the desire to report use levels, and the need for better understanding of the important values American people attached to wilderness. Over the past three decades, however, wilderness science was guided by new questions asked by managers due to changes in society, technology, and use patterns. Scientists have collaborated with managers to provide solutions to changing science needs and changing relationships between the U.S. population and wilderness. This article summarizes these changes and highlights contributions to wilderness and other protected area management solutions.
2001
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Conservation Ecology, 2003
There are many unique issues associated with natural resource management in the far north as a result of legislative direction, historic settlement and occupation patterns, northern cultural traditions, ecotourism, economic depression, pressures for energy development, and globalization and modernization effects. Wilderness designation in Canada, the USA, and Finland is aimed at preserving and restoring many human and ecological values, as are the long-established, strictly enforced, nature reserves in Russia. In Alaska and Finland, and in some provinces of Canada, there is a variety of values associated with protecting relatively intact relationships between indigenous people and relatively pristine, vast ecosystems. These values are often described as "traditional means of livelihood," "traditional means of access," "traditional relationships with nature," or "traditional lifestyles." Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) forms part of these relationships and has been acknowledged as a contributor to understanding the effects of management decisions and human-use impacts on long-term ecological composition, structure, and function. Wilderness protection can help maintain opportunities to continue traditional relationships with nature. As cultures continue to evolve in customs, attitudes, knowledge, and technological uses, values associated with both TEK and relationships with relatively pristine ecosystems will also evolve. Understanding these relationships and how to consider them in wilderness protection and restoration decision making is potentially one of the most contentious, widespread natural resource management issues in the circumpolar north. Borrie, W. T., N. Christensen, A. E. Watson, T. A. Miller, and D. W. McCollum. 2002. Public purpose recreation marketing: a focus on the relationships between the public and public lands.