OUTDOOR LIVING 5
OutdoorLiving
OutdoorLiving
A Sand County AlmanacIn relevance to the 21st century, Iagreewith Leopold`sobservation that industrialization has used the wilderness as a rawmaterial. Consequently, the human race has drained the wilderness byjettisoning important relics such as the virgin pineries of the lakestates, the flat woods of the coastal plains and the giant hardwoods.I,as well,agree to the element that itis crucialto safeguard the remnants of the environment. DespiteLeopold’s efforts in pinpointing the effect of human activity onthe environment, he does not advice on suitable approaches ofminimizing the rate of environment depletion.Thegrowing human populationhas increased theinvasion of foreststo obtain timber and additionalhuman settlements. Besides, the upsurge in pollution fromindustrialization has led to climatic changes. Leopold failsto pinpoint how people can pursue their interests and maintainharmony with the environment (Leopold & Sewell, 2001).As an educator, I agree withLeopold that before the interferenceof human beings, theenvironment had engendered its self-correction mechanism. Forexample, land physiology has maintained itself notwithstanding humanactivities.He has prompted my thinking about the interconnection between peopleand the wilderness. However, Leopold over-criticizedthe activity of man as mainly aimed at destroying the wilderness. Hehas failedto observe that there are environmental conservation initiatives suchas the construction of dams along flooding rivers. Although hisobservation is holistic, he has failed to see the need to controlnatural occurrences,such as floods,that are detrimental to human activities and the environment itself.Besides, humans should also react to reduce the natural extinction ofspecies by nature (Leopold & Sewell, 2001).In defense of nature I agree that nature is life’sconception and life’s spending. Human beings need to engender waysto live in accord with the environment. In the 21st century, man hasconsumed nature with little knowhow of ways to restore theconsumption. Hay(1969) remarks aboutman’s inability to sustain the environment through rehabilitationand conservation. However, the use of the term ‘nihilist’describes man as a creature out to consume the environment blindly.As he is unaware ofpossible consequences. It is agreeable that human beings have alreadycaused considerable harm tonature, but people also have the power to reinstate nature byadopting innovative ways forconservingthe environment. John Hay accentuates the inability of human beingsto take control of the current situation,but in the real case, people are only timid to conserve theenvironment. In the 21st century, human progress in technology issufficient to develop measures that can reduce supplementarydevastation of the environment and give it time to reconcile (Hay,1969).As an educationist, I appreciateJohnHay’s analysis ofthe principal causes of the conflict between man and the environment.He pronounces the effect of the ever-increasing demand of the humanscompared to the supply of resources by nature. Hay(1969) recommendshuman beings to refrainfrom handling nature as a product,and insteadconsider it as a lifeand death acquaintance. However, John Hay does not provide man withthe best approaches toaddress the weaknesses.Besides, he has focusedtoo much on man as aslayer of nature to theextent that he does not realize the effortsof man to restrain the deteriorationof nature (Hay,1969).
References
Hay,J. (1969). Indefense of nature.(pp. 340-341.) Boston: Little, Brown.
Leopold,A., & Sewell, M. (2001). Wilderness. ASand County almanac: With essays on conservation(265-279). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.