How Wild

I’m a tree hugging wilderness lover who’s sometimes a little exasperated with the hand-wringing around climate change. I really appreciate the nuance and perspectives brought into this show.

This podcast series dove deep into the history of Wilderness in the United States and the current reckoning of its well-meaning but prejudice origins and simultaneously valuable ecosystem conservation. I would be very interested in hearing a second season that perhaps addresses Wilderness in the eastern US. It would be interesting to compare and contrast specific issues and insights. Prescribed burns, for instance, may not be as valuable on this side of the country.

Really interesting show in the first couple of episodes, especially as they talking about history of these spaces and perceptions of wilderness. However, at any point that the show wanders into defending people that are rude, loud, and obnoxious in the wilderness, it goes off the rails. Let’s be clear, it’s not about being a brown or black person in the wilderness, it’s about being a rude person in the wilderness. Listening to speakers on the trail is NEVER acceptable. It shows that you think you are the most important person there, and not an understanding that this is a shared space. Which actually flies in the face of all of this rhetoric around certain people not being included in outdoor spaces. They are to be shared, equally, respectfully, and it’s not about you. Also, it IS unacceptable to come to a campground with a huge party of people and be loud and obnoxious. This is true if you are white, black, brown, or anything else. It’s indefensible. Being inclusive is wonderful, being forced to tolerate obnoxious behavior is not. If you want to be in the spaces, be respectful. End of story.

Equating a concept like Leave No Trace with controlled burns feels like an unfair comparison when leave no trace is widely a for the PUBLIC to be more mindful of their impact (something many people still don’t do). In my knowledge LNT is less about park management practices like controlled burns and it just feels like frankly a dangerous equivalence to make. I’m sure there are ways that leaving a trace can be beneficial but I don’t think it’s useful to your general argument to encourage an generally uneducated public to consider those given how much damage we already do to the land currently. Again, I’m a fan of this show and it’s given me a lot to think about in good and hard ways, but talking about LNT the way you frame it here just feels irresponsible