MANAGEMENT OF

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MANAGEMENT OF WILDERNESS ENVIRONMENTS
GEOG3320
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Introduction the idea of wilderness

• Lecture outline
• introduction to module
• what is wilderness?
• the idea of wilderness
• spatial patterns distribution and scale
• workshop your idea of wilderness

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1. Introduction to the module

• Module outline
• 1. The idea of wilderness
• 2. The importance of wilderness and wildland
• 3. Wilderness ecosystems
• 4. The concept of landscape
• 5. Recreational use of wilderness and
  wildland
• 6. Non-recreational use of wilderness and
  wildland
• 7. Wild futures?
• 8. Case studies 1 wild Britain
• 9. Case studies 2 re-wilding the uplands
• 10. Case studies 3 re-wilding the lowlands

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1. Introduction to the module (contd)

• Form of teaching
• Lectures 10 x 1 hour
• Workshops 10 x 1 hour
• Reading and preparation 10 x weekly
• Assessment
• Examination 1 x 2 hours (67)
• Group project 1 x web poster (33)

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1. Introduction to the module (contd)

• Workshops
• Discussion sharing personal experiences of
  wilderness
• Discussion why is wilderness necessary for
  global survival?
• Guest lecture Mark Fisher on self-willed land
• Video "The Scottish Highlands - in search of
  wilderness"
• Discussion developing a wildland policy for
  England and Wales
• QA session web poster development
• Guest lecture Toby Aykroyd on the Wild Britain
  initiative
• Discussion developing a wilderness inventory for
  Britain
• Guest lecture Alan Watson-Featherstone on Trees
  for Life
• QA session module summary and exam practice

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1. Introduction to the module (contd)

• Aims
• introduction to wilderness and wilderness
  management
• develop knowledge and understanding of
  wilderness the idea, the reality, the issues and
  solutions
• Objectives
• examine environmental problems and management
  issues
• focus of human/environment interaction
• discussion of issues raised in relation to UK
• examine case study material with emphasis on UK,
  Europe and global examples

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ThoughtWrite down three attributes of wilderness
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2. What is wilderness?

• Definition
• Wild, wild, a. Living in a state of nature not
  tame not cultivated desert stormy furious
  frolicsome rash extravagant excited. -n. An
  uncultivated tract.
• Wilderness, Wilder-nes, n. A desert waste
  irregular collection of things.
• Origins
• early teutonic Norse languages
• Anglo-Saxon
• Biblical

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2. What is wilderness (contd)

• Formal definition
• US Forestry Service (1920s 1930s) Roadless,
  Primitive, Natural.
• Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Committee
  (1962) areas over 100,000 acres containing no
  roads usable by the public and showing no
  significant ecological disturbance from on-site
  human activity

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2. What is wilderness (contd)

• The Wilderness Act (1964)
• a wilderness, in contrast with those areas where
  man and his own works dominate the landscape, is
  hereby recognised as an area where the earth and
  its community of life are untrammelled by man,
  where man himself is a visitor who does not
  remain.
• a wilderness should retain its primeval
  character and influence and should be managed in
  such a way that it appears to have been affected
  primarily by the forces of nature.

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Question What are the four main qualities of
wilderness?
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3. The idea of wilderness

• Formal definition is crucial but difficult
• Sociological definition is easier
• Leopold (1921)
• a continuous stretch of country preserved in its
  natural state, open to lawful hunting and
  fishing, devoid of roads, artificial trails,
  cottages and other works of man.
• Nash (1982)
• to accept as wilderness those places people call
  wilderness

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3. The idea of wilderness (contd)

• Problems with definitions
• Formal
• too rigid, lacking flexibility
• wilderness is not a formal thing
• Sociological
• perhaps too subjective
• based on the individual
• Romantic
• exaggerated notions of wild beauty
• Poetic and artistic licence

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3. The idea of wilderness (contd)

• The wilderness experience
• Experience and preconceptions help define
  wilderness
• Mood and feeling
• Nash (1982)
• One mans wilderness may be anothers roadside
  picnic ground.
• Three conditions affecting experience
• 1. natural
• 2. social
• 3. managerial

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3. The idea of wilderness (contd)

• Natural influences
• human impact
• wildlife
• ecological and physical processes
• Social influences
• behavioural
• solitude
• Managerial influences
• quality
• extent

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ThoughtWhat is your own purest wilderness
experience?
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4. Spatial patterns

• Where is wilderness?
• anywhere where wilderness conditions persist
• de jure or de facto wilderness?
• Wild(er)ness as a state of mind
• 34 of world land area remains as wilderness on
  following basis
• areas greater than 1 million acres (404,700ha)
• essentially roadless
• unaffected by permanent habilitation or
  structures

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QuestionName some of the wildest areas of the
world
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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• Global distribution of wilderness
• McCloskey and Spalding (1989)
• Lesslie (unpublished)
• Sanderson et al. (2002) The Human Footprint
• The US distribution of wilderness
• The 1964 Wilderness Act and the National
  Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS)

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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• Formally protected wilderness areas
• USA and Canada
• Australia and New Zealand
• South Africa and Zimbabwe
• Scandinavia
• International wilderness areas
• World Heritage sites
• Biosphere Reserves
• Ramsar sites

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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• Attributes of wildness
• naturalness and natural integrity
• opportunity for solitude
• opportunity for wilderness recreation
• aesthetic/scenic quality
• cultural features
• bio-physical attributes

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QuestionHow do you measure these attributes?

• Naturalness
• Solitude
• Opportunity for recreation
• Aesthetic/scenic quality
• Cultural features
• Bio-physical attributes

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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• Naturalness and natural integrity
• presence/absence of human influence
• scale of developments
• Solitude
• size of area
• topographic and vegetative screening
• distance from perimeter
• human intrusion
• Recreational opportunity
• absence of facilities
• challenge
• diversity

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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• Aesthetic quality
• landscape diversity relief and view distance
• physical features (e.g. water, glaciers, etc.)
• vegetation
• human developments
• Cultural value
• ancient remains
• Bio-physical
• flora and fauna (especially if rare)
• geological and geomorphological features

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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• The Wilderness continuum concept
• A range of conditions from the paved to the
  primeval (Nash, 1982)
• A range of wilderness types and environments
• Wilderness is a relative concept depending
  strongly on experience and geographical location

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ThoughtIs there any wilderness left in Britain?
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4. Spatial patterns (contd)

• Wilderness in the UK?
• Thousands of years of change as result of human
  activity
• Secondary wilderness
• Remote areas
• Example Cleared areas of Scotland
• Traditional view as wastelands resulting from
  English occupation and associated Clearances
• Contemporary view as areas offering wilderness
  experience
• Knoydart, Cairngorm, Letterewe Forest

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Final thoughtHow important is spatial scale in
determining the significance of wilderness or
wildland?
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Reading

• Hendee, J.C et al (1990) Wilderness Management.
  Fulcrum Publishing, Colorado. Chapter 1
• Nash, R (1982) Wilderness and the American mind.
  Yale University Press, New Haven.
• Oeschlaeger, M (1991) The idea of wilderness
  from prehistory to the age of ecology. Yale
  University Press, New Haven.

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Workshop

• Discussion How does our idea of wilderness
  relate to personal experience?
• What are your ideas as to what wilderness is?
• Where is the wildest place you have been?
• What things made it feel wild to you?
• How has this experience shaped your idea of
  wilderness?

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Task

• Describe your wildest experience in words and
  pictures
• Use the following headings
• where is the wildest place you have been?
• what things made it feel wild to you?
• how has this experience shaped your idea of
  wilderness?
• Include a personal photograph
• digital (maximum 640x480 resolution)
• use suitable alternative from web if you dont
  have one of your own to hand
• Submit as Word document using supplied template
  by Monday

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Next week...

• 2. The importance of wilderness and wildland
• Experiencing wilderness
• Wilderness values
• Sustainability
• Workshop Why is wilderness necessary for global
  survival