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the upper altamaha initiative:
fall 2007 Levi Van Sant Abstract One of the fundamental principles of American environmentalism throughout the 20 th century and into the modern day has been the wilderness ethic. Under this paradigm, land management has often been concerned with preserving (or restoring) a "natural" or "pristine" pre-human landscape - in practice, this results in efforts to restrict human exposure and minimize certain kinds of impact and activities. Critics of the wilderness ethic argue that this approach to management reinforces a dichotomy between humans and nature by assuming that wilderness is natural only to the extent that it successfully minimizes human presence (Cronon, 1996). This concept of wilderness is also a distinctly ahistorical one in that it assumes a static and normative baseline. For many modern Americans, this idealization of wilderness encourages them to think of conservation of vernacular landscapes as less important, or even un important. This common interpretation limits the usefulness of wilderness as a concept for addressing contemporary environmental issues - which are necessarily human issues, too. The shortcomings of the wilderness ethic suggest other conservation and management approaches - alternatives that are more historically aware. Our conservation ethic should not be one that tries to neatly separate humans and non-human nature; it should be one that recognizes and revels in the history of their inextricable interaction (Sutter, 2006). With these lessons in mind, and inspired by the message of Spring Hollow's previous owner Eugene Odum, this project aims to show how a historically-informed land management scheme can be a viable alternative. One of the fundamental principles of this project is the need to integrate the local community into the management scheme. Throughout much of America's conservation history, land has been functionally extracted from its local context; this has often had the effect of alienating the surrounding community and creating tension and resentment among different social groups. This project will explicitly address this problem by encouraging local use and remaining sensitive to community dynamics. For example, projects on the property will aim to draw volunteers or apprentices from local communities to increase exposure to Spring Hollow. The property could also serve as a site for certain community events: family reunions, festivals, or farmers' markets to name a few. These efforts are designed to respect the integrity of the local community, and will hopefully result in a healthy appreciation of the property instead of contempt for the management plan. Another area where this plan will diverge from the wilderness model is that it will encourage the public to be actively engaged in the landscape, rather than passively visiting. This site will indeed accommodate passive, minimal-impact outdoor recreation, but this is not its primary goal. True to the legacy of Dr. Eugene Odum, the land will also serve as a site for experiential education, research and environmental reform. Dr. Odum felt that environmental education was critical to the future of American environmentalism, and Spring Hollow will continue this mission by offering these opportunities. UGA ecology students interested in environmental education could fulfill the staff needs of this program while also gaining valuable experience. Spring Hollow also offers many opportunities for UGA researchers from a variety of disciplines. Making the property easily accessible for a range of projects and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration reflects the academic philosophy of Dr. Odum and the holistic traditions he fostered in the University of Georgia's ecology program. The management scheme at Spring Hollow will also incorporate the spirit of Dr. Odum's environmental critique and his belief that energy was critical to understanding the environment. As his ecosystem analysis centered on energy flow, and his main challenge to American society involved adopting a more efficient use of energy, Spring Hollow will be dedicated to serving as a model for these principles. This involves not only active solar and hydrologic power supplies, but also low-input sustainable agriculture, passive solar design and recycled materials construction. Energy use and sustainability will also be central to the program of education at Spring Hollow. The management plan at Spring Hollow will be adaptive and flexible to take into account the dynamism of both natural and social systems. It will apply the many lessons from Dr. Odum's ecology that remain critical to contemporary society, while also embracing the historical connections between society and the environment. Spring Hollow will serve as a place for interactive dialogue with the environment, and in the process help us to recognize the wildness that abounds in deeply cultural landscapes. |
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