Gates of the Arctic National Park, continued
That was several years ago. While the wilderness I left behind remains the same, the political landscape has changed. The Bush administration, by their very actions, has made it clear that they are not friends of the environment. Just east of the park is ANWR – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Besides enclosing the eastern edge of the Brooks Range, ANWR contains the North Slope and oil deposits. It is also home to the Porcupine caribou herd, musk oxen, and polar bears. ANWR has been in the news for the last few years as the Bush administration tries to open it to oil development as part of its energy policy. Prior to the mid-term elections, the bill allowing oil and gas exploration in ANWR did not make it through Congress. As this article went to press in 2003, the Republican-controlled Congress renewed their efforts to open ANWR to the energy industry.
Years later, the mental imagery of the Arctic tundra is as indelible as the images recorded on film. I can well imagine the rugged beauty that continues into ANWR where GAAR leaves off. More important, my trip to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve has left me with the spirit of what true wilderness is. Unfortunately, that spirit diminishes many of the parks I referred to earlier. Theme parks seem more appropriate.
Photography can serve a dual purpose to protect that which has no voice. As nature photographers we must continue to dispel the myths, and expose the lies, by recording the wilderness as it is. It can document that wilderness is not an ideal, at least not yet. It can show that the Arctic is a rich, vibrant landscape. But photography is also art, and the feelings that the landscape evokes in us, if captured on film, can ignite the passions of others to take action. The privilege of photographing a park that very few Americans will ever visit carries a serious responsibility for bringing the wilderness back for all to see. These wilderness areas are more than just blank, roadless areas on a map. They are living, breathing examples of what the earth once was: wild, dynamic, diverse, balanced, whole. Beyond just sources of individual inspiration, they are the paths to the way back. What they provide cannot be reconstructed by man’s hand with the help of landscapers, a collection of zoo animals, and a few pictures of what wilderness once looked like.
It is long overdue that our politicians put into practice the conservation esthetic that Aldo Leopold espoused in the middle of the 20th century, that of “building receptivity ” towards things which may be out of our sight, but should not be out of our minds. I know of no better place to start than for our elected representatives to visit GAAR, ANWR, or other wild and pristine areas to get a “feel” for the land. For they better know what they are doing if they propose they can extract oil, gas, and other resources without altering the wilderness. As Leopold wrote, “Wilderness is a resource which can shrink but not grow*.”
* Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1949
Years later, the mental imagery of the Arctic tundra is as indelible as the images recorded on film. I can well imagine the rugged beauty that continues into ANWR where GAAR leaves off. More important, my trip to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve has left me with the spirit of what true wilderness is. Unfortunately, that spirit diminishes many of the parks I referred to earlier. Theme parks seem more appropriate.
Photography can serve a dual purpose to protect that which has no voice. As nature photographers we must continue to dispel the myths, and expose the lies, by recording the wilderness as it is. It can document that wilderness is not an ideal, at least not yet. It can show that the Arctic is a rich, vibrant landscape. But photography is also art, and the feelings that the landscape evokes in us, if captured on film, can ignite the passions of others to take action. The privilege of photographing a park that very few Americans will ever visit carries a serious responsibility for bringing the wilderness back for all to see. These wilderness areas are more than just blank, roadless areas on a map. They are living, breathing examples of what the earth once was: wild, dynamic, diverse, balanced, whole. Beyond just sources of individual inspiration, they are the paths to the way back. What they provide cannot be reconstructed by man’s hand with the help of landscapers, a collection of zoo animals, and a few pictures of what wilderness once looked like.
It is long overdue that our politicians put into practice the conservation esthetic that Aldo Leopold espoused in the middle of the 20th century, that of “building receptivity ” towards things which may be out of our sight, but should not be out of our minds. I know of no better place to start than for our elected representatives to visit GAAR, ANWR, or other wild and pristine areas to get a “feel” for the land. For they better know what they are doing if they propose they can extract oil, gas, and other resources without altering the wilderness. As Leopold wrote, “Wilderness is a resource which can shrink but not grow*.”
* Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1949