Richard Longstreth Book Review

In Thomas Cole’s Essay on American Scenery, the reader is able to appreciate Cole’s predilection and love for the American scenery. It is his belief this scenery is superior to the European scenery, since the latter’s “primitive features of scenery have long since been destroyed or modified … to accommodate the tastes and necessities of a dense population.” However, Cole presents his audience with a gloomy prophecy about America’s future, which he believes will be the same as Europe’s. Still, while acknowledging that industrialization could eventually take over many natural regions, Cole is hopeful that nature will remain victorious, since it will still be predominant. Because of this, he advises the American people to take advantage of

Carl Sauer, one of the foremost geography scholars of the 20th century theorized that the defining characteristics of a “cultural landscape” differed from those of his predecessors. His findings, while contradictory to some of the most respected academics of his time, helped create an entirely new way of thinking within the discipline (Sauer 1925). However, the influence of Sauer’s work extended well beyond the confines of any one discipline. He helped establish landscape studies in cultural geography and strongly advocated for a “responsible stewardship of the sustaining earth.” Additionally, he supplied an esthetic rationale and a historical perspective to the environmental movement. His theory denounced the previously supported theory of environmental determinism, and suggested that cultural landscapes are shaped by humans, as well as many other cultural aspects. In a more complex sense Sauer proposed that cultural landscapes are the product of the human population, and that the actions of humans and define the environment in which we all live. In his own words, Sauer states that “Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium. The cultural landscape the result.”

Generally when one thinks of the American west their mind jumps to an image of untouched, unspoiled land, such as the land that is represented by America’s national parks. These tourist destinations in the West showcase the history of our nation’s land in a way that many people assume is and has always been the reality, but although the natural beauty of these lands is represented perhaps the beauty of the cultures that used to inhabit them is not.

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the ideals of conservation, protection, and preservation became embedded within the development industry. Intensive periods of growth, urban and suburban sprawl, coupled with the surge and education regarding environmental liability took a toll upon the United States’ national resources. Throughout this period in the Unite States, the preservation movement developed into a network of National Parks throughout the country, in addition to laying down the groundwork for the conception of preservation to be adapted within other fields. One type of a historic site, which is arguably deserving of conservation, and frequently encountered throughout the United States are battlefields, in particular

In our Change Project, we collected a sufficient amount of data and learned information on a endangered species, the Ridgway’s Rail. This environmental issue is not very well-known, which explains the lack of help and volunteering. In this service project, our Change group went to Don Edward and help improved the habit of Ridgway’s Rail. Throughout this project, we tried to spread awareness about endangered species and find ways we can enhance their surroundings. My Change group used this opportunity to not only help prevent the extinction of Ridgway’s Rails, but also to help other species that are living in the same habitat. In order to help the Rails, we tried to figure out the reason behind the destruction of the marsh. Through an experienced volunteer, June Smith, we learned that invasive plants are the culprit of the extinction of the Ridgway’s Rails.

George, J. C., & Minor, W. (2008). The wolves are back. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books. The Wolves are Back is a wonderful children’s picture book.

Carrie Breitbach’s (2009) “The Geographies of a More Just Food System: Building Landscapes for Social Reproduction” revolves around the idea of bringing justice to the food system by rectifying landscape and social reproduction as a solution in South Dakota. In contrast, Peirce F. Lewis’s “Axioms for Reading the Landscape,” focuses on how to read and understand landscapes through a set of rules which he calls “axioms.” In the “Geographic (or Ecological) Axiom,” Lewis argues that studying a landscape outside its location makes no sense in gaining cultural insight on the landscape (1979, 24). While Don Mitchell (2007, 43) in “New Axioms for the Landscape,” presents the idea that the shape of the land provides direction to its social life. He

The geographic region of Mesa Verde captivates me because of its sheer concentration of archeological sites in an area, and the plethora of cliff dwellings found in this region of Colorado. Mesa Verde, a place ancestral Puebloan people called home for hundreds of years from 500 A.D. to the 13th century, is situated on Colorado’s diverse landscape, which consists of 4,400 archaeological sites and 600 cliff dwellings (Smith, 7). Mesa Verde National Park was officially established in the early 1900’s by Theodore Roosevelt in hopes of protecting history and preserving human culture. Since then it has been a site for thousands of archaeologists to dig in to. Before Mesa Verde was receiving the attention it gets today archeologists Bob Lister,

Nature presents itself around us every day, sprouting between the sidewalk and the street, potted on a porch or controlled and planned out in sectioned off lots often accompanied by a playground. Living in the city, we are not often presented with the unpredictable qualities of wild nature, an environment that is more likely to make the average person feel like an explorer of uncharted territory than a trip to the neighborhood park would ever make us feel.

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

I agree with Anderson’s idea of making use of restoration techniques used by California natives because it focuses on conservation through action rather than a “hands off” approach. The California native techniques may be useful because it can help caretakers actively participate in restoration of flora and fauna while learning about their habitat and what makes them flourish. The natives were also concerned with “a sense of respect which consequently promoted habitat heterogeneity, increased biodiversity, and a well maintained vegetation system” (Anderson 2005). If caretakers can take native management techniques and combine it with their background of sciences concerning the natural world they can come up with a whole new technique of restoration

In more recent times, the interactions of people and the landscape have influenced the landscape and the life that depends on it. Swampland has been drained, cleared and cultivated, roads have been constructed, and homesteads established. Wildfires were stopped and non-native vegetation was introduced. Pollutants have also degraded water quality. Non-native

treatment of natural resources the evolution of the National Parks. He examines what the parks

In a series of tragical events, both authors, Kittredge and Abbey, desperately want to protect nature’s land. However, both essays are written differently to capture the reader’s attention about the two different forces that are ruining the beautiful creation of nature. In the essay “Owning it all”, Kittredge illustrates that his family and him are trying to upgrade the production of agriculture in the Warner Valley, but something goes terribly wrong in their efforts of making that happen. In the essay “The Great American Desert”, Abbey expresses his love for Desert and what people should do to preserve it. Nonetheless,Kittredge and Abbey clarify that nature should be protected against the strong forces that seek to redesign the landscape.

Sauer denounced environmental determinism and believed that culture was the causal agent for environmental change. He believed that “Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape the result” (Sauer 1925, p 103). It was the human – environment relationships which morphasised the landscapes. Rather than understanding the details of why and how the cultures worked, Sauer was more concerned with the ‘outcomes of the culture’ and what ‘imprint’s’ they had left on the landscape (Sauer 1925, p 97). A cultural landscape allows understanding of the world through a snapshot; what you see from above or outside without considering all the moving parts within. For example in a cultural landscape, symbols, architecture, buildings,