Out of the Wilderness

I am trying to track down the PNAS publication noted in the article but have found no record of its publication. What's the story with that?

I will agree that wilderness exposure, education and appreciation at a young age is vital. People need to spend more time away from their offices and homes for better health and peace of mind. No matter where one lives, with a lttle worthwhile effort whether by bike, train, or car, a special place of solitude can be adopted. It's trajic when those places disappear. This is why it is so important to be an active part of a local organization that unites people to preserve and protect our priceless resources.

I sure can't support Jerry Adler's conclusion: "But maybe we'd all do better to give the World a break from us, so it can heal on its own."

It appears that Mr. Adler hasn't been out into the vast wilderness much himself, because there are huge areas where there are barely any trails where it is easy to get lost in solitude. In California, the National Parks and National Forests have put strict limits on the numbers of people who can access the wilderness. Yet when one does indeed get access, and hike for a day, there is almost nobody else there! The result of these discouraging limits is that fewer and fewer people try to get access.

Maybe that is good if one is seeking solitude, but it is not good for the long-term support of the wilderness.

In response to DAVCAP's comments: William Blake said "To see a world in a grain of sand/And a heaven in a wildflower/Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand/And Eternity in an hour". To say that a walk in the woods "would be greatly enhanced if the walk offered something in return" is to be blind to all that our world has to offer and teach us. We are, all of us, capable of observing, interacting, and learning from our world without someone telling us what we should be learning. An educational kiosk reminds me of watching people pull up to a "historical point" or "vantage point" on the highway, piling out for 30 seconds to snap a photograph and then speeding off down the highway. What was learned? What was experienced? Not much. I'm not sure this idea would really help to intrigue people to experience the natural world. The internet is a great tool-if used properly. So much knowledge can be gained but then, at some point, one must close the laptop and experience the world. This is where we are lacking. "Wilderness" exists just as much in our urban backyards and city parks as much as our stunning national parks and forests. Yes, I am encouraging everyone to take even 5 minutes a day to explore the world at our fingertips. As much as I love a solo hike-I do not own nature and neither does anyone else. If everyone became attached and fell in love with some piece of the wild, it may spark our interest to preserve it. Frankly, we're good as dead without it.

I find those old train's that pack the tourons in them and slowly crawl through the wilderness wonderful. I couldn't believe that I got MY picture taken 200 times as it passed because I was on the other side of the window with a backpack on. Stay in the trains cuz its too beautiful for you to all be poopin behind every other rock.

The more we interfere with nature the less nature we get.

In this age of consumerism, it may appear that we need to repackage the outdoor experience to consider the levels of accessibility and convenience being given to the public. For example, as we discovered when researching our project to create a guest ranch and reinvent camping using yurts, many campgrounds are seeing a significant revenue increase by introducing yurts as an option. It makes the outdoor experience more convenient, much quicker to relax into, and easier on the planning and investment factors. We need to consider how to repackage the outdoor experience to fit the rapidly changing demands of the modern day consumer who want features like: "ease-of-use", "uniqueness", and "something-new-and-different". Let's face it simply enjoying a walk in the woods for its own intrinsic value would become greatly enhanced if that walk offered something in return...think educational kiosks along the way that talk about the environment being experienced, history of the area, relevance to one's one experience. I think we will see more of a shift from primitive camping towards more packaged offerings with amenities in the same settings over the next several years. People still want to enjoy a walk in the woods today, but then they want to come back and get a massage or sit in a hot tub too. They want less effort and more experience.

an enjoyable, simple, close-to-home, bank fishing excursion is nonexisting in the "sportsman paradise", what is clearly state/federal owned properties has become 'private' properties for a select few good ole boys private club control. where can any citizen get information (legal advice) regarding such practices, streams are discontinued (dammed, fenced,etc.). the sight of camps, mobile homes that align sections of us highway 190 in st landry parish is alarming. what authority has control of regulations controlling such properties? LOUISIANA , sportsman paradise exist for ALL interested citizens. it is time share what is legally available to all citizins

Just a handful of comments--you can see how important this topic is to most people, I guess. After a few years in Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Nashville, I'm back in the country where I can't see my neighbors. It's not that I don't like people. I do. But I LOVE having nature just outside my door, and when I'm walking through the woods, in the creek bed, or in the field at the top of the hill, I feel like I'm part of a great, entangled web of life that most people are too busy to notice. When my nieces, 11 and 8, come to visit from Cincinnati, we spend most of our time outside, and they love it even though they spend their time at home in organized activities and watching TV. Of all the things we've done when they've come to visit, their hands-down favorite was lying on a quilt after dark with Zoe, our spaniel-lab mix, and looking at the stars (you can actually see the Milky Way here), planets, and the occasional meteor or satellite that silently crossed the sky. Don't ever say I don't know how to have a good time!

Nature is important not just to boyscouts. It is important to all of us. We humans need to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life once in a while. The outdoors has a calming effect and relaxes the mind, body and soul. ..without the noise polution of radios, TVs, dune buggies, ETC. While nature does us a tremendous amount of good, we should treat it with respect!

outlaw atv's

One wonders if the authors considered the efforts of organizations like the Boy Scouts as a means of getting people outdoors? Nature, the outdoors and conservation are very important themes to the Boy Scouts.

Fred Goodwin
San Antonio, TX