 |  Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e William P. Cunningham,
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham,
Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo,
St. Cloud State University
Preserving Nature
BE ALERT FOR: Wilderness Definition
The word wilderness is widely used but means different things to different people. To some, wilderness is any unmanaged, uninhabited area of plant growth. To others, it means beautiful natural scenery. Lack of common definitions of terms makes effective communication difficult. One of the important steps in critical thinking is clarification of terms.
Note that in natural resource discussions, wilderness has a more narrowed operational definition. The Wilderness Act, which established the National Wilderness Preservation System, defines wilderness as "an area of undeveloped land which is affected primarily by the forces of nature, where man is a visitor who does not remain.…” The Act elaborates by indicating that such areas contain features of scientific or historic value with opportunities for solitude or primitive types of recreation. It also notes that such areas are large enough to be able to retain their unspoiled, natural conditions.
BE ALERT FOR: External Threats
Protecting the ecological integrity of wilderness areas has turned out to be far more difficult than first expected. Most destructive practices within the boundaries of these areas can be effectively controlled. It's what happens outside, in some cases hundreds of kilometers away, that creates the toughest problems.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, the most heavily visited member of the National Wilderness Preservation System, is a case in point. The area is subject to a number of external threats. Rainbow smelt, a nonnative fish species, and the exotic rusty crayfish have now gotten into the area's watersheds. Nonnative species can have very disruptive impacts on the systems into which they have been introduced. It is simply too early to tell what these species will do in the Boundary Waters.
Another problem is atmospheric deposition of mercury. Produced by coal burning and other activities as far away as Texas and the Ohio Valley, this toxic metal is undergoing biological magnification in the aquatic food chain. Mercury concentrations in some of the larger predatory fish in certain lakes have reached levels unhealthy for continuous human consumption.
These problems underline the ecological principle that everything is indeed connected to everything else.
|
|
2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education