Humans Get Out and Stay Out

Bill Throop and Ned Hettinger argue that stability and diversity are not strongly correlated, but rather we must rely on intrinsic values such as “beauty, diversity, creativity,” but above all wildness. They propose that the value of wildness should be the underlining value for natural systems. Wildness is important in a system because it has been untouched by human influence. The value of wildness is essential for restoring natural systems because it allows for the system to exist in its wild state without humanities imprint controlling the ecosystem. As Troop and Hettinger write, “extensive restoration projects disturb nonnormal scales.” They explain their idea of wildness though their example of the wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone. The reintroduction of the wolf will bring wildness back into the system. However, any reintroduced animal into a natural system are at the hand of a human. The only way to allow these wolves to be introduced and become wild again is to allow them to introduce themselves by giving them the freedom to roam, hunt, mate, etc. “Ecology of stability” is the idea that natural systems are self regulating and can control themselves for they are in constant motion towards stability. “It is risky to advocate preserving the integrity of natural systems when such integrity may not exist.” They are arguing for a holistic ecocentric approach, that the environment is a system of its own and it could be dangerous to try to fix something that does not need fixing. By focusing so strongly on preservation, we ignore the importance of finding a way for humans to live in nature without destroying it.” We should just let it be, and figure itself out. Chaos and destruction are a part of the natural system. Therefore, when the wolves are eventually reintroduced by themselves, the landscape will shape them just as they will inevitably shape the landscape. Therefore, the wildness value gives hope to wilderness and the wolves themselves.

I strongly believe in this argument that humans need to stop trying to dominate nature for our own well being. Systems were doing well before we industrialized, polluted and pillaged; for example, the Amazonian Rainforest or Coral Reefs or even wetlands. They are self sustaining systems that were doing well on their own, but once humans come in and try to wield the natural powers for our own they systems began to break down. The one critique I have for the article is the point he makes about weight. Again, it makes me beg the question, who has the right to decide which systems carry which amount of weight? Also, they mention on page 193 that “humans extirpating the wolf from the Yellowstone region in the first part of this century had a vastly different impact on wildness value” than people from earlier historical events. Therefore, this could just be the moment in time in which we decide this is right for the environment. Things are liable to change as the Earth changes, so what is now acceptable can one day be “prehistoric.”