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The Wilderness Idea

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Wilderness Idea
The wilderness is a valuable resource for scientific, educational, scenic, and historical research. Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt advocated the preservation of the American wilderness for its national history, beauty, and traditions. However, as the American society evolved to live in the city, the suburbs, and other residential areas, the wilderness was becoming a wasteland that numerous companies intended to build houses, factories, and cities. William Stegner, a prolific author, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award is known for his novels reflecting the love for nature and the West. In “The Wilderness Idea” from his book The Sound of Mountain Water, Stegner’s idea to preserve the wilderness is …show more content…

When the first Europeans arrived in America, they were intimidated by the extensive American wilderness and the indigenous people who inhabited it. However, as brave explorers, mountain men, fur trappers, and other colonists expanded westward for resources and land, the wilderness became exploited and reduced. “I want to speak for the wilderness idea as something that has helped form our character and that has certainly shaped our history as a people…” (Ravitch 603). The wilderness impacted the growth of the American civilization and became an important piece of American history. Without discovering and confronting the wilderness, America would remain a small country and without an opportunity to own land and rely on Europe and Africa for resources. Some people may argue that the wilderness did not impact American history. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a program designed to conserve and improve the national forests, and employed over three million men in nine years. Not only did it improve the recreational facilities in the parks, it also benefited the unemployed men with a job to financially maintain themselves and their parents during the depression. The wilderness has impacted famous American writers like Henry David Thoreau to write his masterwork, Walden, and discover his beliefs about transcendentalism and civil disobedience. Thoreau’s Walden continues to impact writers, environmentalists, and naturalists while his essay, “Civil Disobedience,” inspired numerous leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi to employ non-violent protests movements to achieve their respective

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