Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
What is Wilderness in Appalachia?
Session Abstract or Summary
We tend to associate wilderness with the American west – places which are understood to be relics of a more primeval landscape, and which are valued for how they connect people to nature. But the unique wildness of Appalachian landscapes has lessons about harmony, balance, and conflict between wilderness and civilization that are more difficult to learn in western landscapes. The purpose of this panel is to emphasize the way in which the unique resilience and biodiversity of the Appalachian landscape, and the adaptations of Appalachian culture to these landscapes, have important contributions to make to the discussion of wilderness overall, to re-stitching the seams between wilderness and civilization, and, especially, to discussions of rewilding.
The panel will consist of two paper presentations, each of which will be followed by commentary from the other panelist. There will be a communal discussion and question-and-answer period to follow.
The first presentation will examine the development of our ideas of wilderness, beginning in the 19th century and continuing into the 21st century, where it increasingly becomes captured by consumerist impulses. An alternative to this sullied tradition can be found as far back as Benton MacKaye’s original plan for the Appalachian Trail, and has elements of an Appalachian wild agrarianism.
The second presentation will focus on rewilding policy and ethics. Ecological restoration projects in central Appalachia will be situated in a larger context of rewilding literature, rewilding practice, and state and federal policy. The paper defends Appalachian rewilding, and investigates likely ethical concerns of such projects.
Presentation #1 Title
Wildness and Culture in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This paper examines the idea of wilderness, and how it developed in America through the writings of people like Muir, Thoreau, and Leopold. This idea is followed through the 21st century as it increasingly becomes captured by consumerist impulses, and becomes critiqued both from more ardent defenders of wildness and by theorists of the Anthropocene. An alternative to this sullied tradition can be found as far back as Benton MacKaye’s original plan for the Appalachian Trail, and has elements of an Appalachian wild agrarianism in it.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Joey Aloi is Food Hub Marketing Specialist at the Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action, and a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of North Texas.
Presentation #2 Title
Rewilding and Appalachia
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
The second paper concretely imagines the possibilities and concerns around different scales of rewilding projects in central Appalachia. It begins with a general review of rewilding literature and practice, continues with a review of actual restoration efforts in central Appalachia that pertain to rewilding, steps back to conduct a review of policy, both state and federal, in order to identify what level of rewilding is even worth discussing in this area, examines and assesses the likely ethical concerns of such projects, and offers a coherent and appealing vision of rewilding in central Appalachia as a beautiful idea.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Charles Hayes is pursuing a doctoral degree in Philosophy, with a graduate specialization in Environmental Science and Policy. His research centers around environmental ethics, with specific interests in the ethics of collaborative public land management, the project of rewilding, and environmental virtue ethics.
Conference Subthemes
Environmental Sustainability
Wildness and Culture in Appalachia
This paper examines the idea of wilderness, and how it developed in America through the writings of people like Muir, Thoreau, and Leopold. This idea is followed through the 21st century as it increasingly becomes captured by consumerist impulses, and becomes critiqued both from more ardent defenders of wildness and by theorists of the Anthropocene. An alternative to this sullied tradition can be found as far back as Benton MacKaye’s original plan for the Appalachian Trail, and has elements of an Appalachian wild agrarianism in it.
