Andrew Murdock's Tree Army

Before reading the third chapter of “The Forest and the Trees”, I remember learning in the second chapter about symbolism, ideology and the construction of life in different cultures and societies around the world. For example, something interesting I remember learning was how every social system has a culture, consisting primarily of symbols (including words), ideas and practices. I believe this also connects and refers to how we tend to build our own sense of reality through the words and ideas that we use to mean something and people may use to name interpret what they experience and how cultures consist of symbols of ideas or words being portrayed. Based on what I read in the second chapter and the title of the third chapter, “The Structures

1. Karl Jacoby book brings the remarkable accounting of the negative aspects of conservation movement to the sunlight. Jacoby uses the early years of Adirondack Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Canyon Forest Preserve to demonstrate his theme of the locals’ reactions to the creation of the park and the actions from the conservationists. And the fantasies the early conservationists’ promulgated of the locals of being satanic rapists of the environment are dispelled (193).

The Great Depression, pulled the American economy to its all-time low. The government mitigated the depression with several methods. When the stock market collapsed, people started losing their jobs and then their homes to the banks. People were desperately searching for jobs even if it’s terrible, until the government formed the CCC. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was formed to provide hope and dignity to young American citizens and their future generations.

This legacy included the Sierra Club, a club Muir started and was president of during his life to bring together people and their efforts to promote conservation, preservation, and environmentalism within society. The Sierra Club still exists today as an organization that strives “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth,” among other missions such as responsible use of resources and educating people about improving the human environment (“Policies”). This mission statement still exemplifies Muir’s ideals and beliefs one hundred and twenty-five years after the club’s creation-- a testament to the strength and influence of his actions. However, there is more to Muir’s legacy than the Sierra Club. In 1908, six years before his death in 1914, Congressman William Kent donated over 150 acres of redwood forest to the government in order to preserve it, insisting it be named after John Muir (“Muir Woods”). Muir Woods, as it was titled, is a magnificently beautiful tract of land filled with towering redwoods. The fact that the park still exists more than one hundred years and Muir’s name is still so commonly heard is simply more proof of Muir’s lasting legacy which will undoubtedly continue to inspire and fascinate future generations. Finally, Muir’s writings are the last part of his legacy. He wrote several books about his life and experiences in the Sierra, and one collection of his adventures to Alaska, but most of his books center on the American West and the Yosemite Valley. Although he did make some scientific ponderings and conclusions, the vast majority of Muir’s writings centered on his daily experiences and were more descriptive than anything. According to John Leighly, “ Muir's articles intended for the general public are as carefully written and contain as detailed and accurate observation as any scientific writing...in them Muir is attempting to share

With environmental issues such as global warming, pollution, and natural resource depletion, it is indisputable that preserving the wilderness is essential for a sustainable future. While the effects are becoming more prominent today, the concern for maintaining a balance with nature has been around in the United States for over a century. In defense of preservation, one individual shares his perspective in his book, Desert Solitaire, of the crucial need for undisturbed wilderness and how the exploitation of it must be contained. Edward Abbey’s method to convey his message can be crude, unfiltered, and raw. Regardless, he argues “there is a way of being wrong which is also sometimes necessarily right” to justify his approach (xii). Although Abbey’s point of view is sometimes “violently prejudiced [and] unconstructive,” his message is passionate and thoughtfully presented in a manner that invites

They contributed many photo essays to Arizona Highways, though Adams was less than thrilled with their color reproductions. Still, they are important for they championed a “uniqueness of the ‘American’ earth at a time when other artists and intellectuals were drawn to ideas of internationalism” (Dunaway, 2005, p. 131). The Sierra Club’s new storytelling technique the coffee table book and National Geographic’s photo-driven essays also grew in popularity. Other conservation organizations quickly grasped the value of photos as a way to appeal to Americans on a more personal and intimate level the importance of humanity’s relationship with land and nature (Corbett, 2006; Neuzil, 2008; Sierra Club,

Located in the middle of Stokes county 0.62 square miles is claimed to a small town of Danbury, estimated population is 187. Although to be little Danbury holds a “Gem” in Stokes county. Back in the 1930’s, the Stokes County Committee in hopes for a State Park, donated 3,096 acres of land. This began the construction of what is now known as Hanging Rock State Park. Since then, serval thousands of acres have been bought and donated, now in 2017 the total acreage is over 7,000. Of course, the first essential constituent of a State Park was land, once the land was obtained, the Civilian Conservation Corps came into the picture. On September 17, 2017, I interviewed a park ranger ___________ on a Hiking tour located in Hanging Rock State Park.

“A Monumental Fight,” an article by Time Magazine, conveys the benefits and faults of the national parks. The author, Katy Steinmetz, illustrates, “In waters around Hawaii, Obama quadrupled the size of Papahanaumokuakea, a marine monument... the move banned commercial fishermen from the area” (34). Steinmetz further explains that the Pacific monument is “home to some of the world’s oldest coral” and “endangered species” (34). This national monument saves animals and strengthens the habitat without the harmful impact of humans. If the National Park Service suffers budget cuts, the Pacific Monument could be dismantled; this would lead to extinction of the endangered species and destruction of the native coral.

UNIT PAPER 1 The National Park Service and the United States Forest Service: A Comparison on Public Land Management Early American land policy mainly consisted of the United States government acquiring public land and then in turn selling those lands to private landowners to generate revenue and to promote development. With public land rapidly disappearing a concern began to develop creating a small movement to protect public lands. There was little success with the movement until Theodore Roosevelt came into office managed to set aside 95 million acres of reserves from 1901 to 1907.

To begin his conversation, Stegner conveys that conservation is not just about recreation, but nature is our measurement of where we are as a society. He compares wilderness to “a scientific yardstick” that measures the “natural balance” of nature and industry. This statement conveys the Stegner view and also lays the groundwork for his letter. He also writes “We need wilderness preserved . . .because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed. The reminder and the reassurance that it is still there is good for our spiritual health (Stegner, Wilderness Letter).” The idea of what nature we have left is an undisputable fact of the direction mankind is heading towards. Theodore Roosevelt agrees with this notion

Today, in any case, many gauge the Forest Service as an exceedingly nonadaptive administration finish an old fashioned mission with the wrong apparatuses. It is still fight by expert foresters, many profoundly devoted to(predicate) to the office's errand, yet it has off track a huge arrangement of the independence it wone under Pinchot. It practice under complex and frequently negatory commands from Congress and the look for and costs citizens a considerable measure of assets while accomplishing sketchy points. The administration's inward decision making framework is regularly gridlocked, and the high caliber of staff soul and attachment that Pinchot worked so stern to cultivate has been unredeemed. Nowadays, treatise are composed contending

These sites are conserved to protect nature’s beauty and places of value to the people who are natives of the land. Today’s problem comes from the federal government proposing significant budget cuts to the NPS. If the government continues with this plan, Americans will lose the chance to experience untouched nature. Even though conserving these parks, monuments, and historical sites are not a priority in the government’s eyes, investing in the NPS should be a priority because the national monuments protect the meaning and value of the land and people are paying lots of money to keep the parks protected.

Trees are an extraordinary form of life here on Earth that we as humans fail to appreciate. We find ourselves “too busy” to learn about the living organisms that provide us with so much, including life. I have taken it upon myself to help inform readers of just how unique and important trees can be. Throughout the course of the blog posts, the topic of the importance, purposes, and history of various tree species is discussed. The five major tree species that were written about in the blog are: the baobab, the coast redwood, the Socotra dragon’s blood tree, the Moringa oleifera, and the oak tree. Each blog post described the significances of each of these species. The significances included those such as ways in which the tree is or has been used, the dimensions of the trees, the importance of the tree to natives and other individuals in history, as

Mana was only able to remain isolated because of its access to vast quantities of natural resources, which allowed it to remain self-sufficient. In 1828, shortly after her arrival in Mana, Javouhey wrote to her sister, Marie-Joseph Javouhey, “je ne m’attendais pas à trouver tant de ressources pour le bien.” Later, Javouhey marveled, “la position de Mana [était] admirable. Le sol [était], par expérience, le meilleur peut-être de la Guyane; les terres basses [étaient] d 'une fertilité rare.” The surrounding virgin forests became “la plus grande richesse du pays.” A single tree yielded 300 twelve-by-one foot planks of wood. The colonists used their free access to wood to build and furnish Mana’s buildings and sold excess planks in Cayenne, where they were always in demand. Although, in Cayenne, the planks were sold at the rate of three francs per piece, Javouhey believed that the quality and beauty of the wood would have allowed them to be sold for six francs a piece in metropolitan France. The colony’s surrounding rivers, which were easily navigable, was another indispensable resource. Javouhey remarked, “elles sont aussi très poissonneuses; tous les jours nous mangeons du poisson, plus ou moins, selon l 'adresse des pêcheurs. C 'est une grande ressource pour la cuisine que le poisson quand il ne coûte rien” The fertile soil likewise contributed to Mana’s success and agriculture became a fruitful endeavor for the colony. In 1838, to the Minister of the Navy and the

The classical classifications of Teddy Roosevelt environmentalism no longer applies to our given circumstances. Though he helped create and solidify the existence of national parks, the nature that is most familiar to us is also the most overlooked, and these natural entities that are ignored are often found in the urban landscape (Cronon 1996). Socially we have constructed the idea that wilderness is out there and far away when it is actually within everything we interact with on a daily basis (Cronon 1996). The environmental themes touched upon in our class have some degree of resignation of dissociation, but the field of interdiciplinarity enables us to recognize that these dissociations in one way or another construct and support various themes within restoration, invasive species, and novel ecosystems. Deconstructing these themes enables us to link various connections that would support and deepen our understanding of the successes and follies associated with these themes. More often than not we are required to think outside the quadrilateral prisms and conjoin a collective thought in the thread of a Mobius strip.