176
“how to manage the protection of nature” depends on the legal and economic conditions of society.
In our chapter we would like to show how the three questions mentioned above
are current in terms of the practical ongoing conflicts regarding the protection of
Šumava National Park in the Czech Republic, as well as in the cultural construction
of wilderness.
2 Defining of Wilderness in the USA and Europe
2.1 Wilderness in the US
Historically, the word was derived from the notion of wildness or that, which is not
uncontrollable by humans. The word’s etymology is from the Old English
wildeornes, which derives from wildeor wild beast (from wild + deor beast, deer)
(The Collins English Dictionary 2000). During the European settlement of America
the wilderness was seen as something to be feared as illustrated by one settler in the
early 1600s, who stated that, “Wilderness is a dark and dismal place where all manner of wild beasts dash about uncooked.” Indeed, early settlers struggled to clear
and cultivate natural lands as a way of civilizing wild America (Worboys et al. 2015).
According to Nash’s famous book “Wilderness and the American Mind” (Nash
1982), “Wilderness” is a cultural human construction. The wilderness concept only
exists in the minds of humans. Whilst this may be so, ironically, in order for there to
be wilderness, there needs to be some humans in non-wilderness places defining
what is wilderness and what is not (Neill 2003). Nash’s book “Wilderness and the
American Mind” has been rated in the top 100 most influential books in America
(the first edition 1967 and the fifth edition 2014).
The United States was the first country in the world to define and designate wilderness areas through law, namely, the 1964 Wilderness Act. In the US Wilderness
Act, wilderness is defined as “an area where the earth and its community of life are
untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain”
(Wilderness Connect 2019).
Despite of fact of it being more of a metaphorical than scientific definition, we
can see a dualism between man and nature, between culture and nature which is
typical of the Western anthropocentric world-view. From this point of view, the
place where we are is the place where nature is not (Nash 1982; Oelschlaeger 1991).
Although the Wilderness Act is a single piece of guiding legislation for all wilderness areas, many other laws affect the wilderness. Some laws have designated
additional wilderness areas, subsequent to the initial 54 areas designated under the
Wilderness Act. Others guide management, such as the Clean Air Act and the
National Environmental Policy Act (Dawson and Hendee 2009).
E. Cudlínová et al.
“how to manage the protection of nature” depends on the legal and economic conditions of society.
In our chapter we would like to show how the three questions mentioned above
are current in terms of the practical ongoing conflicts regarding the protection of
Šumava National Park in the Czech Republic, as well as in the cultural construction
of wilderness.
2 Defining of Wilderness in the USA and Europe
2.1 Wilderness in the US
Historically, the word was derived from the notion of wildness or that, which is not
uncontrollable by humans. The word’s etymology is from the Old English
wildeornes, which derives from wildeor wild beast (from wild + deor beast, deer)
(The Collins English Dictionary 2000). During the European settlement of America
the wilderness was seen as something to be feared as illustrated by one settler in the
early 1600s, who stated that, “Wilderness is a dark and dismal place where all manner of wild beasts dash about uncooked.” Indeed, early settlers struggled to clear
and cultivate natural lands as a way of civilizing wild America (Worboys et al. 2015).
According to Nash’s famous book “Wilderness and the American Mind” (Nash
1982), “Wilderness” is a cultural human construction. The wilderness concept only
exists in the minds of humans. Whilst this may be so, ironically, in order for there to
be wilderness, there needs to be some humans in non-wilderness places defining
what is wilderness and what is not (Neill 2003). Nash’s book “Wilderness and the
American Mind” has been rated in the top 100 most influential books in America
(the first edition 1967 and the fifth edition 2014).
The United States was the first country in the world to define and designate wilderness areas through law, namely, the 1964 Wilderness Act. In the US Wilderness
Act, wilderness is defined as “an area where the earth and its community of life are
untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain”
(Wilderness Connect 2019).
Despite of fact of it being more of a metaphorical than scientific definition, we
can see a dualism between man and nature, between culture and nature which is
typical of the Western anthropocentric world-view. From this point of view, the
place where we are is the place where nature is not (Nash 1982; Oelschlaeger 1991).
Although the Wilderness Act is a single piece of guiding legislation for all wilderness areas, many other laws affect the wilderness. Some laws have designated
additional wilderness areas, subsequent to the initial 54 areas designated under the
Wilderness Act. Others guide management, such as the Clean Air Act and the
National Environmental Policy Act (Dawson and Hendee 2009).
E. Cudlínová et al.