The Forest Unseen Sparknotes

Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.

The wilderness can be used to measure against the man made world, a “scientific yardstick.” Throughout the entire piece he is arguing that the importance is not what we can actually see or touch, but what we think of and

The relationship with man and nature is often influenced by the experiences that one encounters. Douglas Stewart in the snow gum uses descriptively visual techniques in order to portray his experiences, indulging all senses.. The use of imagery to describe the snow gum “ performing its slow miracle” creates a sense of spiritualiy and connection between him and nature that’s present. And in this short pace of time of the “slow miracle”, he is caught up in the experience and awareness of the tree. It is suggested that from his world, he had to slow down to stop and view the natural phenomenon. . The choice of the word “something”, reveals his amazement and questioning. He is suddenly aware of the wonders of nature, not just about the tree surviving in the harsh climate but the shadow and the perfection that exists in nature

The beautiful blossoms that bloom in Californian spring, the summer daisies alongside the cooling lake, long after the summer the trees have lost their leaves entering autumn to fresh white snow out in the mountains. Nature is able to show us its true beauty without any falseness and modifications. After all, is it not ironic how people go to museums to look at paintings of colorful flowers, green hills, and clear water streams; those are beauties that can easily be observed in real life outside of the urban environment which are surrounded by them, or how people buy recordings of the calming sounds of nature, similar to what you would listen to at night in the woods or smell nature aromas of the candles. What we are doing is trying to mislead our minds and pretend to think that we are in the woods but are instead cornered inside our small, well-furnished, and full -with-technology apartment.

Throgutout the book, the main character was going through mistrust moments which made me very curious what those calls and sound that she couldn't identify. In the beginning it was very interesting because it made me very thoughtful and having that curiosity of knowing what made the man character to be adventegous and expressng her confidence throughout the pages. If I was in this type of setting I personally wouldn't have the courage to go out in the wild to see what those particular calls and sounds were. I’m a very self-conscious person so I give a lot of credit for the 15 year old girl that stood up for herself in a way.

A relationship, a feeling of being connected to others in a bond is a feeling that can be expressed in many different ways. Some may express this feeling as that of a source of happiness while for others a relationship might be much deeper. Relationships happen not only between individuals but also with nature. This natural relationship is exemplified in the writings of Muir and Wordsworth. In Muir’s “Calypso Borealis” he exemplifies his intimate relationship and spirituality with nature, while in Wordsworth’s

Edwin Fiske’s first memory of snow happened when he was a young boy, perhaps four or five-years-old. He was spending wintertime at his Grandma Cookie’s house with his mom in Springfield, Ohio. It was morning and everybody was awake, yet it was dark outside because the snow would pile high up and block out the windows. “Why is it dark?” a puzzled Edwin asked his grandmother. “Because it’s wintertime!” she responded. The snow towered over him as they all went outside to get into the car that was also buried in snow. My grandpa believes this memory stuck with him because it was his first impression of how deep, dark, and cold snow can be.

Years of looking at a tree and seeing a photosynthesizing plant and returning to our air-conditioned homes, has lead us to feeling that we are separate, even fundamentally different from our natural landscapes. When taking the chance to consider Maine as more then a place, to consider it a her, then the once 2-dimensional landscape becomes three dimensional as all the systems and processes of ecosystems also act as the organs of a human would. Trees center this landscape for Maine by working as her physical and spiritual heart, acting as the connection between all of the natural non-living systems, and the rest of the body. That remaining piece of the body being the humans in the landscape, the arbiter of action for the entire entity. As this concept expands, it encompasses all parts of our world, and placing us humans at the head of an evolving story. One that only we can control, and one that will decide whether Maine, as well as our planet will continue living with a beating heart or will slowly wither

Hearing a wide variety of beautiful birds and seeing the glistening sunlight reflections over a river is an everyday occurrence in nature. It is the place people go to ease strong feelings by prevailing the beauty of the untamed woods. The woods at which a multitude of creatures and occasional people use for protection from opposing thoughts or actions. Obtaining protection from nature is one of man’s best ways of securing their safety from the unwilling. With the tremendous amount of foliage, the woods are able to conceal any person like the spots on a fawn.

Our American society believes that forests in the United States are not managed sustainably. Yet, our forests are being managed for sustainability through sound application of science, commitment from individual landowners, and viable markets for products from the forests. Everything we do and everything we need to survive comes from the environment, so sustainability is what we as humans can do to make sure the environment is sustained well enough for future generations.

“The Forest, The Trees, and The One Things” an article by Allan G. Johnson explains that the five social systems relate back to the famous board game Monopoly. Johnson (1997) explains that society is people and people are society. To understand social life, all we have to do is understand what makes the individual psyche tick. What Johnson means by this is that people are individuals when they are by themselves, when they are within a group of people they become a society. By the ways that the people talk, move and act they influence the others around them to act a certain way too, this is what makes up a society.

Before its legislation, there were previous attempts at conserving the forest, for example: “[t]he first attempt to establish a more general wilderness policy by the Forest Service came in 1929 when the agency issued Regulation L-20...primitive conditions would be maintained...however, indicated that timber, forage, and water resources could still be developed in these areas. This effort was plagued by unclear directives and the lack of support of many foresters, who favored the use of resources, not their preservation.” (Wilderness Act) Additionally, the second attempt was made in 1939, where a stricter more precise version of the L-20, called U-Regulation were adopted. After the wilderness movement lost momentum around the 30’s, it was revived

In the chapter First the Forests in the book Forests: The Shadow of Civilization by Robert Harrison, used Greek mythology and modern day philosophers to connect how forests interact through civilization. The popular themes in this chapter plays along Vicos theory of the intuitional order with the quotation “This was the order of human institutions: first the forests, after that the huts, then the villages, next the cities, and finally the academies” (Pg.11). In the epic of Gilgamesh the first antagonist was the forest. This emphasized how the forest was wild and dangerous. The Greek god Artemis would roam in the forest hiding in the shadows of the trees. The forest is a place of wild and of disorder. Actaeon went to the forest and saw Artemis

Forest serves as nature’s most primitive habitat, covering up to 31% of the world’s surface, providing its inhabitants with abundant resources needed for survival. Before the emergence of civilization, our planet’s forests were at peak condition, allowing a massive variety of birds, fish, and wild gazing animals to thrive in it’s most natural habitat. We would not believe our eyes if we were to travel back to 10,000 B.C and observe the stunning ways nature’s interaction with it’s organisms in the absence of cities. This balance between nature and its organism quickly took a downfall at the dawn of civilization. John Perlin, in his book < a forest journey: the story of wood and civilization” (1989), gives two comparisons with ancient writing

My Wooded World Sheila Visingardi tells a story about how nature plays a huge part in her life. As a child she would sit in the beautiful, relaxing, woods and let her mind wander. It was as if the branches would call to her. (Lines 2-4) As the speaker grows older the woods have become an escape for her. The woods represent a sanctuary. This is where she feels inspired and creative, and also safe and at home. It is “a world full of imagination, creativity, resourcefulness, as well as inspiration.” (Lines 7-8)