Why wilderness? Those who love the natural world wild and untrammeled may feel that they need no spoken or written answer, that the mere existence and experience of wilderness is answer enough. But if wilderness is to expand – in the United States and around the world – then wilderness advocates will need to ease the minds of others whose images of the natural world are more dominated by human influence.
So why exactly is wilderness needed or wanted? There are many dimensions to understanding the values of wilderness. Its spiritual, psychological, and aesthetic values are, perhaps, those that people feel most deeply. People who advocate for wilderness often do so from a feeling of love for wild nature, a love that is born not from an analytic evaluation of data but from a core belief in its "rightness."
There are ecological values to wilderness, as well. First and foremost is the fact that by the nature of its designation, wilderness areas are roadless areas. Roads of all types constitute one of the most serious threats to ecological health in all ecosystem types. Apart from the impact of the roadway itself on the organisms that were in its path during construction, the continued presence and use of a road creates additional challenges for the organisms that live in its vicinity. These challenges come in many forms.
— Roads increase mortality due to collision with vehicles. This is an especially serious problem for many large mammals. The reintroduction of lynx into the Adirondack Park in the 1980s failed not because of the conditions of their habitat, but because the mortality rate from being hit by motor vehicles was greater than the birth rate.
— Roads cause animals to modify their behavior. Home ranges shift, reproductive success is reduced, and energy spent being more alert and fleeing from disturbance increases, all leading to a decrease in population viability.
— Roads disturb the physical environment. Roads and their adjacent areas compact the soil, increase air temperature, decrease soil moisture, reduce rates of photosynthesis through the raising of dust, and accelerate erosion.
— Roads alter the chemical environment. Increased levels of heavy metals in the soil and roadside vegetation, of salts and organic pollutants in waterways, and of ozone in the air are all consequences of roadways. These problems can be transported for a great distance from the road itself.
— Roads provide pathways and favored conditions for the spread of exotic species, many of which compete with native species for the resources necessary for life.
With so little wilderness left in the northeastern United States following the large-scale clearing and colonization of the region in the 1800s, it would be surprising if many wilderness-dependent species remained. Yet studies in New Hampshire have uncovered species of plants and insects that are found exclusively in old-growth forests – a forest age-class not likely to persist over the long term on non-wilderness land – and thus show that wilderness-dependent species do exist.
But even beyond those creatures that require wilderness are those that fare better when human influences are at a minimum. Pine martens, northern goshawks, wood thrushes, and a handful of warbler species, for example, can all be found outside of wilderness areas, just as spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest can be found in clear cuts. But their successful reproduction at levels sufficient to keep their populations healthy and viable requires intact forests with limited human disturbance, which again are best provided by wilderness.
Wildlife populations in wilderness areas, therefore, serve as sources of dispersers who can then colonize other areas where disturbance is greater and reproductive success is lower. These source populations are essential to the ecological health of the surrounding landscape.
Wilderness plays a role in allowing ecological processes to operate to their fullest and best extent. Here in the Northeast, for example, forests are important in filtering and regulating the flow of water. Human society in this region depends on the flow of water out of forests to support itself, and the quality of the water is directly related to the health of the forest it flows through. Simply put, wild forests provide the highest water quality possible.
Finally, wilderness provides a baseline for understanding what the impacts of our land-use practices elsewhere actually are. This is, perhaps, wilderness’ most basic scientific value.
The ecological values of wilderness are numerous and compelling. Coupled with the other values we hold for wild nature, the answer to the question "Why wilderness?" is clear.
Stephen Trombulak is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Middlebury College and is the co-author of "The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History."
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