The Wild East explores the social, political, and environmental
changes in the Great Smoky Mountains during the 19th and 20th
centuries. Although this national park is most often portrayed as a
triumph of wilderness preservation, Margaret Lynn Brown concludes
that the largest forested region in the eastern United States is
actually a re-created wilderness -- a product of restoration and
even manipulation of the land.
Between 1910 and 1920, corporate lumbermen built railroads into
the most remote watersheds and removed more than 60 percent of the
old-growth forest. During the 1930s, landscape architects and
Civilian Conservation Corps workers transformed the Smokies,
building trails, campgrounds, and facilities that memorialized the
rustic ideals of Roosevelt-style conservation. With the advent of
the 1950s, enthusiasm for the national park system boomed again;
cultural interpreters went to work. During the 1960s, however,
wilderness advocates began lobbying for a more natural-looking
landscape.
In the 1970s, Brown writes, the Smokies faced many of the
consequences of these management decisions. Major crises pushed
park officials toward a greater regard for ecology and scientists
trained during the environmental movement foraged through the
land's history and sought to re-create the look of the landscape
before human settlement. Park management continues to waffle
between these shifting views of wilderness, negotiating the often
contradictory mission of promoting tourism and ensuring
preservation.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
