Blog Assignment #2
"The Trouble with wilderness: or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature" William Cronon -
Have Americans "infected" nature by taking advantage of it?
Khala Scott
Virginia Commonwealth University

Blog Assignment #2
"The Trouble with wilderness: or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature" William Cronon
Have Americans "infected" nature by taking advantage of it?
Long before humans inhabited Earth, before humans took advantage of Earth's resources, before people sat in front of computer screens for hours, there was one thing that Man had. This
"thing",was nature or the wilderness if you will. In today's society things are a bit different.
Powerful countries especially the United States are viewed as being more concerned with technological and monetary advancements than nature. This could mean that the people of the
United States have "infected" nature by not taking care of it or using it for what it has been designed to be since the beginning of man. A few examples of such "infecting" are pollution, using nature for monetary gains. etc. Does interest in advancement mean deterioration of nature?
Some researchers have agreed on the assertion that advancement in other areas leads to neglect of nature, while others argue the complete opposite.
In his essay "The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature"
William Cronon speaks of human perception of the wilderness. This essay agrees with the above question, that American do take advantage of nature. Among the first few sentences of his essay,
Cronon discusses how in the eyes of Americans the wilderness is "the last remaining place where civilization- has not fully infected Earth". Which is what led to the question of Americans in fact
"infecting" their own land. In the United States there are a plethora of national parks including
Yellowstone, Yosemite, The Grand Canyon, etc. these parks in which according to Cronon
"retain only a dim echo of its former power". By using these "natural" parks as a way to gain revenue and tourists attractions Americans lose sight of the true value of nature and instead view

Blog Assignment #2 it as a form of profit. People view these tamed perfectly kept areas of national parks and create a romanticism that does not exist in true nature. Another example of American extortion of nature that is illustrated in Cronan's argument is creating the comparison through metaphor of
Americans taking over natural areas for their own benefit to "the devil, devised for the destruction of the first garden". This comparison expresses the severity of Americans taking over nature, not knowing the damage that is will cause their own land. By comparing Americans to the devil the writer exhibits the irrefutable fact that Americans are doing unmistakeable damage.
These simple examples exemplify Cronon's belief that in many cases the people of America use nature as a benefit to them rather than taking notice to it's beauty and simplicity.
In contrast to Cronon's evident disapproval of the way Americans view and treat nature,
"The Value of Nature to the State" essay takes a different perspective on the topic. The writers of this essay agree on that fact that the underlying reason for American interest in nature, wildlife, the wilderness, etc. is indeed revenue, or capitalism of individuals for free trade and ultimately, monetary benefits this may seem as if they are in agreeance with Cronon. Although the writers
Robertson and Wainright (2013) go on to describe how the United States government is actively working toward preserving and protecting the environment and nature by "defining its value" (p.
3); it's not truly a positive. This essay underlines its ideas with a simple example of a tree. On the surface a tree is simply valuable, because it provides oxygen and other natural resources, but to the government it provides another way to make more money. The trees are valuable to them, not for nature's beauty, but for the gains of economy. In other words, the American people and/or the government again uses nature to compete with other countries, and build the economy so that there is more money for spending. Groups, agencies, and individuals that work for the preservation of nature do exists, and attempt to provide their services for protection rather than

Blog Assignment #2 money. Unfortunately the government represents the American people, and the government is not looking to protect the wild, but to receive anything that nature has to offer without giving back to it or even remembering the serenity that nature once offered the people of the United
States. This piece of writing further illustrates that idea that Americans are taking nature for granted, using it for advancements, and are slowly but surely watching the land deteriorate.
Susan Patterson's "How Do Humans Affect the Environment" speaks both negatively and positively on the people of the United States and their relationship to nature. This source expresses that Americans do infect nature in some ways, but also contribute to nature and its well being. On a negative aspect it is evident that with technology advances come things such as air, water, and soil pollution, which are clearly unsatisfactory to wildlife, or nature as a whole. Being outdoors and "one with nature" was once such a sought after thing, but today nature is suffering due to the lack of care of the American people. Another aspect to take note of is that although
Americans are now in a time where people are noticing there biological footprints, and making better decisions when speaking of cultivation in farming, or taking care of animals; people are still taking natural soil and turning it into chemicals which ultimately ends up ruining to soil. To the people of America, this is of little importance, because there' soil everywhere, but it doesn’t take long for soil to become defective. Also, Americans try finding d the cheapest ways to "help nature" even if they are harmful. In the eyes of the Americans saving money is more important that taking care of the land which will slowly begin to fade away if it's continued to be mistreated by its inhabitants. While Patterson does make valid points of the ways that Americans take advantage of nature she also states how the people do not take advantage of nature, but actually affect it positively. The people of California for example are used to an excessive amount of forest fires, but they are active in innovation and effectively using new techniques in

Blog Assignment #2 preventing, and quickly ending forest fires. This illustrates the idea of Americans not taking advantage of nature, because they are using their funds not to take away from nature but to provide services and help for it. The idea of using funds for the benefit of nature is seen as well in the idea of America implementing reforestation all throughout the United States. This provides evidence that no matter how technology advances America does too care about nature.
Dr. Stephen R. Kellert wrote his ideas of American's Relationship to nature in his piece
"A National Initiative to Understand and Connect Americans and Nature". The professor opens his writing with the statistics that in today's society Americans spend 90% of their time
"reflecting the increasing separation from the outdoors". He argues that although technological advances have been made and the American people are increasingly drifting away from nature and simply using it for gains, they are realizing this and beginning to make a change. This change among Americans is claimed by Kellert to have come from an increase of scientific knowledge in how vital it is for the wellbeing of humans to have a relationship with nature.
According to Kellert, Americans especially with families, are beginning to use nature as it was used before, for its serenity, and peace, rather than for it's timber, oil, or other profitable items as it is used currently. In Kellert's novel "Companions in Wonder", he explains his idea that nature is not just a luxury but a necessity meaning that it's naturally meant to be used by humans, but not to be taken advantage. In the eyes of Kellert, the people of the United States do not take advantage of nature, they now use it for its natural beauty/uses, and not for monetary increases.
The article "Toward Improved Public Health Outcomes From Urban Nature" does not speak directly of the idea of Americans taking advantage of nature, but it provides a perfect example. In this article the according to Shannahan et al. (2015) nature is a "pioneering health policy is recognizing nature as a cost-effective tool for planning healthy cities" (p.1). The fact

Blog Assignment #2 that the writers alluded to the idea of nature simply being used only to keep cities healthy, further illustrates the American ways of taking advantage of nature for other benefits. It is highly ironic that the people in American cities want to use their pure nature to help cities, due to the fact that cities are built directly after land is being destroyed for the purpose of industry to further expand the economy as well as technological advances. This example also provides insight as to what's truly important to Americans, instead of preserving nature (which is a necessity for survival including: water, vegetation, trees- oxygen) that is being destroyed slowly but surely they are focused on saving their cities. Why? Because cities are what provides profit, and money as well as competition are what's important to the American people.
All of the sources that have been mention compel the audience to believe that Americans do take advantage of nature for advancements. The sources that explained how Americans so not take advantage or care about nature, were heavily outweighed by the ongoing theme of America using nature as a way to compete with other countries and simply make more profit. Sources that positively reflected Americans also had the underlying theme of the United States, benefiting through monetary influences from nature. Although the people of America like to believe that they are contributing so much to nature with their nature agencies they are still ultimately taking advantage of nature this could even be considered extortion nature. Nature used to be a safe place for people a place to get away and view all that the land has to offer but as mentioned in all sources, the advancement of America as a country has come to the forefront, leaving nature behind in its soon to be over flourishment.

Blog Assignment #2
1.
Cronan, W. (2015). The Trouble with wilderness; or. Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.
Plymouth, MI: Hayden McNeil.
2.
Robertson, M.M.&Wainwright, J.D
. (2013). The Value of Nature to the State. New York,
NY: Taylor&Francis.
3.
Patterson, S (n.d.). How Do Humans Affect the Environment. Green Living
4.
Killert, S., Case, D.J., Witter, D.J. (2011). A National Initiative to Understand and
Connect Americans and Nature. New Haven, CT: Yale University.
5.
Shanahan, D., Lin, B.,Bush, R.,Gaston, K.,Dean, J.,Barber, E.,Fuller, R., (2015). Toward
Improved Public Health Outcomes from Urban Nature. American Journal of Public
Health