Borrie, William T.

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University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Society and Conservation Faculty Publications Society and Conservation 12-2004 Why Primitive Experiences in Wilderness? William T. Borrie University of Montana - Missoula, bill.borrie@umontana.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/soccon_pubs  Part of the Place and Environment Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Borrie, William T., "Why Primitive Experiences in Wilderness?" (2004). Society and Conservation Faculty Publications. 6. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/soccon_pubs/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Society and Conservation at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Society and Conservation Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu. 18 International Journal of Wilderness DECEMBER 2004  •  VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3STEWARDSHIPIntroductionAs defined in the Wilderness Act (PL 88-577), wildernessmanagers and policy makers must protect and provide “out-standing opportunities for solitude or a primitive andunconfined experience.” The draft report on the “NationalFramework on Monitoring Selected Conditions Related toWilderness Character” inter-prets this as a call for “acomplex and subtle set of re-lationships between the land,its management, and themeanings people associatewith wilderness” (Landres2004, in this issue). How-ever, the fundamentalquestion is what sort of so-cial relationships are to bevalidated and encouraged. Indefining the nature of primi-tive experiences inwilderness, we should be in-formed by its intellectualorigins and underlying philo-sophical assumptions.Perhaps, some conten-tious strands of thoughtpermeate the call for primitive experiences. Wilderness is asanctuary from modern, technological society. It is a placeto reflect, to rejuvenate, and to rediscover ourselves freefrom the demands and distractions of where we live andwork. Wilderness is a contrast and a reminder of how thingsonce were. Two particular eras and lifestyles of Americanhistory are also valorized: (1) the simple, close-to-naturelifestyle of indigenous peoples—the “noble savages”; and(2) the virtuous character traits of early European settlers—the “virile pioneers” (Henberg 1994).The opening sentence of the Wilderness Act is sometimesoverlooked, and yet it offers a foundation for the consider-ation of primitiveness. The Statement of Policy begins:Sec. 2. (a) In order to assure that an increasing popu-lation, accompanied by expanding settlement andgrowing mechanization, does not occupy andmodify all areas within the United States and itspossessions, leaving no lands designated for pres-ervation and protection in their natural condition,it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Con-gress to secure for the American people of presentand future generations the benefits of an enduringresource of wilderness.Note the emphasis on an “increasing population,” on “expand-ing settlement,” and on “growing mechanization.” Thisindicates a deliberate setting apart of wilderness from the forcesof change that are associated with modern, technological soci-ety. It is a statement concerning not just ecological componentsof a wilderness resource, but also very much the social andcultural components. I believe it acknowledges people’s placein nature, and calls for a definition of appropriate practices,institutions, and attitudes toward nature. Wilderness is sym-bolic of restraint and reserve, suggesting the importance oflightening the burden of humanity on nature and upon theexperience of nature. Choosing to leave behind the trappingsand conveniences of modern, technological society is a foster-ing of primitive experiences. However, this observation shouldnot be interpreted as a call to save nature from people. Thatseemingly innocuous stance opens up problematic questionsof: From whom are we protecting nature? For whom? And,whose interests are being served in so doing? These are ques-tions of social justice, equity, power, and fairness and are noteasily dealt with herein.Intellectual OriginsThe origin of the notion of primitiveness can partly be foundin the early wilderness writings of Teddy Roosevelt, AldoWhy Primitive Experiencesin Wilderness?BY BILL BORRIEFigure 1—Backpacker entering Buckskin Gulch inthe Paria Canyon–Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness;managed by the Bureau of Land management (AZand UT). Photo by Peter Druschke.International Journal of Wilderness DECEMBER 2004  •  VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3 19Leopold, and Bob Marshall. I offer a fewillustrative quotes that indicate thevaunted status of the “virile pioneer” andthe “noble savage.” Teddy Roosevelt, forinstance, suggested in 1897 thatthe untrodden American wil-derness resembles both ingame and physical charactersthe forests, the mountains, andthe steppes of the Old Worldas it was at the beginning ofour own era. … At the timewhen we first became a nation,nine tenths of the territorynow included within the lim-its of the United States was wil-derness. It was during thestirring and troubled years im-mediately preceding the out-break of the Revolution thatthe most adventurous hunters,the vanguard of the hardyarmy of pioneer settlers [em-phasis added], first crossed theAlleghanies, and roamed farand wide through the lonely,danger- haunted forests whichfilled the No-Man’s land lyingbetween the Tennessee and theOhio. (Roosevelt 1998, pp.333–335)In addition to valorizing the pioneersand their rustic way of life, Rooseveltalso drops the names of Davy Crockett(“honest, fearless”), Sam Houston(“mighty,” “restless, reckless, andhardy”), Daniel Boone (“the arche-type”), and Kit Carson (“daring”). Theyare members of a “distinctive class,with a peculiar and important posi-tion in American life” (p. 341). Theseheroes “show the qualities of hardi-hood, self-reliance, and resolutionneeded for effectively grappling withhis wild surroundings” (p. 348).Roosevelt celebrates not only the pio-neering lifestyle, but also the charactertraits that are fostered and reinforcedin primitive, frontierlike experiences.Aldo Leopold similarly writes thatpublic wilderness areas are es-sentially a means for allowingthe more virile and primitiveforms of outdoor recreation tosurvive the receding economicfact of pioneering. …There islittle question that many of theattributes most distinctive ofAmerica and Americans arethe impress of Wilderness andthe life that accompanied it. Ifwe have any such things as anAmerican culture (and I thinkwe have), its distinguishingmarks are a certain vigorousindividualism combined withability to organize, a certainintellectual curiosity bent topractical ends, a lack of sub-servience to stiff social forms,and an intolerance of drones,all of which are the distinctivecharacteristics of successfulpioneers [emphases added].(Leopold 1925, p. 401).Bob Marshall, in 1930, linked theexperience of primitive environmentswith early Native Americans. He sug-gested that the dominant attributes ofa wilderness area are as follows:First, that it requires anyonewho exists in it to depend ex-clusively on his own effort forsurvival; and second, that itpreserves nearly as possiblethe primitive environment[emphasis added]. Thismeans that all roads, powertransportation and settle-ments are barred. But trailsand temporary shelters,which were common longbefore the advent of the whiterace, are entirely permissible.When Columbus effected hisimmortal debarkation, hetouched upon a wildernesswhich embraced virtually ahemisphere. … “The land andall that it bore they treatedwith consideration; not at-tempting to improve it, theynever desecrated it.” Conse-quently, over billions of acresthe aboriginal wanderers stillspun out their peripatetic ca-reers, the wild animals stillbrowsed in unmolested mead-ows and the forests still grewand moldered and grew againprecisely as they had done forundeterminable centuries.(Marshall 1998, pp. 85–86).Putting aside the anthropological diffi-culties of Marshall’s views of thepresence and practices of AmericanIndians on the North American conti-nent, this is entirely indicative of NativeAmericans as enlightened cultural rolemodels. Their environmental identities,attitudes, and behaviors are seen to beexamples of appropriate cultural rela-tionships with nature. However, thatmodel of the “noble savage” or “greenprimitive” is problematic.Problematic IdealsIndeed, the notions of the “ecologicallynoble savage,” and the “virile pioneer” areboth difficult. Both clearly make a dis-tinction (as does the Wilderness Act)between a genuine, traditional cultureand a spurious, modern culture (Vivanco2003). Whereas the modern is seen asshallow, superficial, and very utilitarian,the traditional is meaning-laden, harmo-nious, and spiritually engaged. It suggeststhat particular human cultures are morevirtuous than others, and that those cul-tures have insight and environmentalwisdom, or even a clearer view towardecological sustainability.The notion of the “green primitive”or “ecologically noble savage” idolizesand sets apart indigenous cultures. Indoing so, it can suggest purity, sim-plicity, and closer connection to naturedue to their ability to avoid the “stain”of modern, technological society. Itlocates indigenous cultures outside thedominant track of history, separatefrom economic systems of trade andexchange, and almost on the “other”side of the human and nature divide(not quite human). It suggests an un-changing culture that is undermined20 International Journal of Wilderness DECEMBER 2004  •  VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3by the adoption of technology and byengagement (however cautious) withpolitics, legal negotiation, and eco-nomic success (Vivanco 2003).The pioneering lifestyle, thoughmore myth than reality in its time,might also be difficult to argue for asan ideal. It could be seen as endorsinga hunting and gathering, mobile ethosin clear contrast to an agrarian vision(secure title, permanent habitation,and “improvement” of land). I won-der if the attraction of the pioneermodel is its rejection of urban servi-tude and/or rural peasantry. Althoughnot exactly celebrating poverty, is it theattraction of the pioneer lifestyle a re-action to the stalled economic statusof rural inhabitants, and the perceivedlack of ability to develop sustainableand harmonious relationships to na-ture? Is the pioneering lifestylevalorizing distant landscapes, openhorizons, and sublime mountain land-scapes to the nearby, less iconiclandscapes? Although rightfully cel-ebrating distant landscapes, are wealso ignoring the less than admirablestate of our relationship to nearby na-ture? When cast in light of thesequestions, the celebration of a pioneer-ing lifestyle becomes troublesome.ConclusionThe search for indicators for the wil-derness value of primitive experiencesis a consideration of appropriate so-cial and cultural relations with nature.In doing so, we need to be wary of theworldviews we would be endorsing.The origin of the notion of primitiveness can partlybe found in the early wilderness writings ofTeddy Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, and Bob Marshall.Those worldviews may not be as po-litically appropriate and benign aswhen they were first suggested.REFERENCESHenberg, M. 1994. Wilderness, myth andAmerican character. Reprinted in J. B.Callicott and M. P. Nelson, eds. 1998. TheGreat New Wilderness Debate. Athens:University of Georgia Press.Leopold, A. 1925. Wilderness as a form of landuse. Journal of Land and Policy Utility Eco-nomics, 1, 398–404.Marshall, R. 1930. The problem of the wilderness.Reprinted in J. B. Callicott and M. P. Nelson,eds. 1998. The Great New Wilderness De-bate. Athens: University of Georgia Press.Roosevelt, T. 1897. The American wilderness:Wilderness hunters and wilderness game.Reprinted in T. Roosevelt. Hunting Trips of aRanchman and the Wilderness Hunter. NewYork: Modern Library.Vivanco, L. A. (2003). Conservation and Cul-ture, Genuine and Spurious. In B.A. Minteerand R. E. Manning, eds. ReconstructingConservation: Finding Common Ground.Washington, DC: Island Press.BILL BORRIE is an associate professor in theCollege of Forestry and Conservation,University of Montana, Missoula, MT59812-0576, USA. Email:bill.borrie@umontana.edu.From LANDRES on page 11we should be monitoring in this “out-standing opportunities” quality ofwilderness, and the differences be-tween monitoring for opportunitiesversus experiences.AcknowledgmentsWorkshop cochairs Peter Landres,Steve McCool (The University ofMontana), and Joe Roggenbuck (Vir-ginia Polytechnic Institute) sincerelythank all of the participants for theirpassion, thoughtfulness, and willing-ness to work toward the goals (andabide by the constraints) of this work-shop. Participants were Chris Barns(Bureau of Land Management), BillBorrie (The University of Montana),David Cole (Aldo Leopold WildernessResearch Institute), Denis Davis (Na-tional Park Service), Chad Dawson(SUNY College of Environmental Sci-ence and Forestry), Chad Dear (TheUniversity of Montana), NicholasFunda (South African National Parks,South Africa), Troy Hall (Universityof Idaho), Steve Henry (U.S. Fish andWildlife Service), Linda Merigliano(USDA Forest Service), and SusanSater (USDA Forest Service).REFERENCESHendee, J. C., and C. P. Dawson. 2002. Wil-derness Management: Stewardship and Pro-tection of Resources and Values (3rd ed.).Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.McCloskey, M. 1999. Changing views of whatthe wilderness system is all about. DenverUniversity Law Review, 76: 369–381.Rohlf, D., and D. L. Honnold. 1988. Managingthe balance of nature: The legal frameworkof wilderness management. Ecology LawQuarterly 15: 249–279.Scott, D. W. 2002. “Untrammeled,” “wildernesscharacter,” and the challenges of wildernesspreservation. Wild Earth, 11(3/4): 72–79.U.S. Congress. 1983. U.S. House Report 98–40 from the Committee on Interior and Insu-lar Affairs, March 18: 43.PETER LANDRES is a research ecologistwith the Aldo Leopold Wilderness ResearchStation, Rocky Mountain Research Station,USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 8089,Missoula, MT 59807, USA. E-mail:plandres@fs.fed.us.

Why Primitive Experiences in Wilderness?

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Why Primitive Experiences in Wilderness?

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