20
Social values and conservation biogeography
landscape. Painters and poets of the Hudson River
School (ca. 1825 – 1890) and the transcendentalist
writers (ca. 1830 – 1870) were inspired by European
romanticism to create an intellectual movement that
identifi ed wilderness as a basic ingredient of American
culture.
The philosophical roots of wilderness reserves can
be traced back to Henry David Thoreau, who, in 1862,
declared that ‘ In wildness is the preservation of the
world ’ (cited in Cronon, 1996 , p. 7). Thoreau was a
leading light of the transcendentalist movement and
rejected the doctrines of established religions in the
belief that life was about the search for an ideal spiritual state that ‘ transcends ’ the physical. Thoreau
believed that such a state could be more easily realized
in the majestic and awe - inspiring monuments of
nature that abounded in the New World. These natural
places, in essence, refl ected a higher transcendent
truth.
The motivation to preserve wilderness in parks and
reserves probably emerged among the urban political
and business elites of New York and other East coast
cities and was motivated as much by commercial as
spiritual or cultural interests. Since the 1820s, an
American ‘ grand tour ’ , visiting picturesque landscapes
and supported by imagery and writings exploring their
sublime qualities, had been popular among educated
urban people.
The fi rst offi cially designated wilderness area was
probably Yosemite, deeded by the US government to the
state of California in 1864 as a ‘ wildland park ’ (Cronon,
1996 ). This was shortly followed by the designation of
Yellowstone National Park in 1872, a move enthusiastically supported by railroad interests that saw the
area ’ s potential as a profi table vacation resort and were
keen for a nationally sanctioned reservation that would
keep speculators and squatters out of the area (Nash,
1982 ).
It took John Muir, the Scottish - born naturalist, to
translate the attitudes of the transcendentalists towards
the American wilderness into a dynamic social movement with the power to wield real political infl uence.
Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892, with the goal
of establishing Glacier and Mount Rainier national
parks, and saving California ’ s last fragments of coastal
redwoods. He gained national prominence through the
campaign to stop the damming of the Tuolumne River
in the Hetch Hetchy valley of the Yosemite National
Park (designated in 1890). The campaign, which ran
threatened life forms; and second, that needlessly
slaughtering wildlife is cruel and barbaric. Roosevelt
was also a founder member in 1887 of the elite Boone
and Crockett Club (B & CC), the goals of which were to
create sanctuaries and refuges where wildlife could
survive the onslaught of human expansion into frontier lands and to change the culture of hunting to
value the noble qualities of the chase rather than the
number of animals killed.
The activities of Roosevelt and his colleagues in the
B & CC were mirrored by European big game hunters,
most notably in the formation of the Society for
Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire (SPWFE)
founded in London in 1903 – still in existence as Fauna
& Flora International (FFI). Like the B & CC, the members
of the SPWFE were men of great eminence, including
the Secretary of State for the Colonies, colonial administrators, hunters and other experts on game in Africa
(Prendergast & Adams, 2003 ). The SPWFE shared the
same concerns as the B & CC, but its focus was on
declining game populations in the colonies, and in particular Africa. In the early decades of the 20th century,
the two organizations joined forces to create the fi rst
international conservation treaty – the 1933 London
Convention on African Wildlife – which created the
legal basis and political clout to establish a network of
parks to protect Africa ’ s game species.
These networks established wildlife sanctuaries
through a combination of informal lobbying and high -
level representations, and members of each organization held the executive power to create wildlife
refuges. For example, as president, Roosevelt designated 59 wildlife refuges between 1909 and 1914, and
European colonial governors designated sanctuaries
in West Africa, India, Malaya and Indonesia (Jepson &
Whittaker, 2002a ).
2.2.6 Wilderness a reas
In the aftermath of the American War of Independence
(1775 – 1783) US politicians sought to create a distinct
culture as a mark of ‘ true ’ nationhood that would
both complete and justify the American Revolution.
Intellectuals of the time searched for something
uniquely ‘ American ’ to ‘ transform embarrassed provincials into proud and confi dent citizens ’ (Nash,
1982 , p. 69). A key source and inspiration in this
quest for cultural autonomy was the American
Social values and conservation biogeography
landscape. Painters and poets of the Hudson River
School (ca. 1825 – 1890) and the transcendentalist
writers (ca. 1830 – 1870) were inspired by European
romanticism to create an intellectual movement that
identifi ed wilderness as a basic ingredient of American
culture.
The philosophical roots of wilderness reserves can
be traced back to Henry David Thoreau, who, in 1862,
declared that ‘ In wildness is the preservation of the
world ’ (cited in Cronon, 1996 , p. 7). Thoreau was a
leading light of the transcendentalist movement and
rejected the doctrines of established religions in the
belief that life was about the search for an ideal spiritual state that ‘ transcends ’ the physical. Thoreau
believed that such a state could be more easily realized
in the majestic and awe - inspiring monuments of
nature that abounded in the New World. These natural
places, in essence, refl ected a higher transcendent
truth.
The motivation to preserve wilderness in parks and
reserves probably emerged among the urban political
and business elites of New York and other East coast
cities and was motivated as much by commercial as
spiritual or cultural interests. Since the 1820s, an
American ‘ grand tour ’ , visiting picturesque landscapes
and supported by imagery and writings exploring their
sublime qualities, had been popular among educated
urban people.
The fi rst offi cially designated wilderness area was
probably Yosemite, deeded by the US government to the
state of California in 1864 as a ‘ wildland park ’ (Cronon,
1996 ). This was shortly followed by the designation of
Yellowstone National Park in 1872, a move enthusiastically supported by railroad interests that saw the
area ’ s potential as a profi table vacation resort and were
keen for a nationally sanctioned reservation that would
keep speculators and squatters out of the area (Nash,
1982 ).
It took John Muir, the Scottish - born naturalist, to
translate the attitudes of the transcendentalists towards
the American wilderness into a dynamic social movement with the power to wield real political infl uence.
Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892, with the goal
of establishing Glacier and Mount Rainier national
parks, and saving California ’ s last fragments of coastal
redwoods. He gained national prominence through the
campaign to stop the damming of the Tuolumne River
in the Hetch Hetchy valley of the Yosemite National
Park (designated in 1890). The campaign, which ran
threatened life forms; and second, that needlessly
slaughtering wildlife is cruel and barbaric. Roosevelt
was also a founder member in 1887 of the elite Boone
and Crockett Club (B & CC), the goals of which were to
create sanctuaries and refuges where wildlife could
survive the onslaught of human expansion into frontier lands and to change the culture of hunting to
value the noble qualities of the chase rather than the
number of animals killed.
The activities of Roosevelt and his colleagues in the
B & CC were mirrored by European big game hunters,
most notably in the formation of the Society for
Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire (SPWFE)
founded in London in 1903 – still in existence as Fauna
& Flora International (FFI). Like the B & CC, the members
of the SPWFE were men of great eminence, including
the Secretary of State for the Colonies, colonial administrators, hunters and other experts on game in Africa
(Prendergast & Adams, 2003 ). The SPWFE shared the
same concerns as the B & CC, but its focus was on
declining game populations in the colonies, and in particular Africa. In the early decades of the 20th century,
the two organizations joined forces to create the fi rst
international conservation treaty – the 1933 London
Convention on African Wildlife – which created the
legal basis and political clout to establish a network of
parks to protect Africa ’ s game species.
These networks established wildlife sanctuaries
through a combination of informal lobbying and high -
level representations, and members of each organization held the executive power to create wildlife
refuges. For example, as president, Roosevelt designated 59 wildlife refuges between 1909 and 1914, and
European colonial governors designated sanctuaries
in West Africa, India, Malaya and Indonesia (Jepson &
Whittaker, 2002a ).
2.2.6 Wilderness a reas
In the aftermath of the American War of Independence
(1775 – 1783) US politicians sought to create a distinct
culture as a mark of ‘ true ’ nationhood that would
both complete and justify the American Revolution.
Intellectuals of the time searched for something
uniquely ‘ American ’ to ‘ transform embarrassed provincials into proud and confi dent citizens ’ (Nash,
1982 , p. 69). A key source and inspiration in this
quest for cultural autonomy was the American