Nature as Landscape
– Many cherished landscapes and classic sceneries are managed areas, altered by humans, even though they are seen as untouched and “wild”. US national parks, state parks, gardens etc. are all maintained in some way. Maybe by exterminating an invaisive, setting intentional fires to prairie restorations or whatever else that involves human intervention to tame nature. Parks today seem to have become giant gardens, “idealized communal landscapes”
– p. 120 “as capitalism besieged the natural world, nature was increasingly defined as those places ‘where industry was not’.”
This chapter reminded me a lot of Desert Solitaire and our discussions of “wilderness”. The idea that nature is where man is not does not seem to encompass what nature really means. Humans have put a name to nature yet they are not included in it, it is contradicting especially while alterations and management of nature continue.
Reassessment of Nature: Romantic and Ecological
– p.125 “…conservationism that arose from perceptions of dwindling natural resources and the desire to preserve nature prompted by challenges to the integrity of wild lands and wildlife from farming, logging, mining and hunting”
“they go to nature as a source”
Nature is seen as a recourse to be exploited. It continues until something goes wrong, even then not much changes. Many environmental issues are still ignored today while lots of scientific data is available showing direct correlations with humans and unhealthiness. It seems that man has treated nature as nice scenery until he is ready to take the useful aspects out of it.

Romantic view of nature.
Disunited Colours of Nature
– p. 146 “every culture projects its values onto nature and then holds them up as nature’s own authority, deploying this apparently unimpeachable and independent source of authority to justify its vision of society and the world.”…”‘nature’ has a record of service as a justification for social hierarchy, inequality of wealth and the pursuit of private property that extends at least as far back as Aristotle, who instucted that slaves were slaves ‘by nature'”
nature dictates who is wealthy/happy? – cultural issues are brushed aside as ‘natural’ problems that cannot be cured. “humankind should follow it blindly” yet once again humankind gave name to nature, so humankind also dictates what is considered nature or what is ‘natural’
The Future of Nature
– if nature is something that does not include humans and is essentially “unaffected by humans” than how was/is social standing dictated by nature like many believed long ago and maybe still today?
“nature has no preferred way of being represented” – many human viewpoint on nature throughout time confuse the meaning of nature.