The Role of Wilderness in My Life

Throughout my life, I have always equated the word “wilderness” with a place where people were not. Although I have always taken wilderness to hold the same meaning, what I view as wilderness has greatly transformed. As a young child, I would walk out of the front door and onto the neighboring abandoned lot— a 1.5 acre piece of overgrown land—to embark on what at the time I thought was an intrepid adventure. Despite the fact that this was merely a parcel of tall grass and trees, I saw through my eyes wilderness; it was not primmed and groomed as our own yard, there were no permanent structures in sight besides the natural trees, and most of all there was no trace of any human presence. As Marshall and Nash recognized, I used this “wilderness” to appease my physical, mental, and aesthetic needs. As I grew older and began to explore more vast areas, such as the 5,000 acre hunting tract I frequented in Alabama and the winding bayous of my hometown, I saw wilderness as a much more vast and much less disturbed area than previously before. Although my picture of wilderness changed, it was always a place for me to find “quietude and privacy” and to renew my spirit. It was a new place to explore and a chance to learn about the world we live in. Cronon argues that this vast, overwhelming concept of wilderness decreases the emphasis placed on small, seemingly insignificant tracts of land. However, like Waller, I agree that “individuals who care strongly about their nearby oaks and wetlands seem more likely to work passionately to preserve remote wild places…” This statement is made true through my personal experience. My appreciation for this mundane, abandoned lot as a young girl allowed my concern and passion about wilderness to grow to more vast areas such as the wetlands. Without this experience, I may not have chosen the path towards an environmental career. I do not believe that this concept of wilderness takes away from the value and appreciation of these smaller areas. Instead, I personally see mundane, local areas as an opportunity to increase the awareness and concern of the public to protect and preserve particular wilderness areas. In my own life, this is exactly the case. Nature, big or small, still serves as a means to spiritual renewal as well as an outlet for my adventurous side. It allows me to relax, to explore, and to learn. And because of this I am able to appreciate and be grateful for the remote, vast wilderness environments as well as the mundane local ones.