Jan- Feb 2002
Letter to the Editor

Wilderness – Where the Hand of Man Shouldn’t Set Foot
by Ken Midkiff, Director of the National Sierra Club Clean Water Campaign

Quite a few years ago in 1978, the then-Director of Missouri State Parks did a wise and wondrous thing: by administrative order, he created the State Parks Wild Area system.

The reason was simple, some would even say simplistic. There weren’t many large areas of untamed lands left for wilderness designation in the National Forests in Missouri – and the U.S. Forest Service had been more of a hindrance than a help in previous designations. (Then as now, that agency was more inclined to assist those who want to conduct extractive activities; those who interested in preservation were viewed as off-kilter and in need of vigilant surveillance).

So, the State Parks Director decreed that there should be wild areas in Missouri State Parks, and set about promptly to create these. Ranging from the Gans Creek Wild Area in RockBridge State Park, which is surrounded by urban and suburban growth from the sprawling City of Columbia, to Goggins Mountain Wild Area in the eastern Ozarks, which is surrounded only by many more square miles of rugged public and private lands, the State Parks Wild areas meet ecological, aesthetic, wildlife and human needs.

The concept of wilderness was elegantly stated by, of all people, members of the U.S. Congress, in the Wilderness Act of 1964: a place where “man is but a visitor who does not remain”. In short, wilderness areas were off-limits to human manipulations and interferences. Natural processes would dictate what occurred, and what the future conditions would be.

Federal wilderness areas have been subjected to several controversies: signage, trail-building, fire suppression, fire fighting, salvage logging, and fixed anchors (bolts for assisted climbing) – and in almost every instance the “off limits” side prevailed. The philosophy of “wild and free, let it be” won out.

State Parks Wild Areas, however, not having the protection of federal law, have endured human manipulations and interferences. Fire suppression has occurred, as well as prescribed burning to reduce encroachment of cedars on glades areas. There have been modest trail-building activities and there have been several instances of removal of non-indigenous species.

Those conducting these activities have what they believe to be good and sufficient reasons for imposing their wishes and visions upon the Wild Areas. They state, with considerable reference to the historical records, that the State Parks are for the most part reclaimed lands. As such, almost all of the Wild Areas have been subjected to considerable alteration in the past – and what is needed now is Restoration and Reclamation.

But, when all the alleged science-based arguments and ecological treatises are pulled back and stripped away, what remains is that those wanting to conduct Restoration and Reclamation have a vision of what the Wild Areas should be. These folks, with the best of intentions no doubt, have arbitrarily and capriciously selected some historical date – typically pre-European settlement – and want to re-create the wild areas in the image of that era. They see native cedar trees, actually junipers, as an enemy of the past, and they use fire as their primary weapon.

This is scurrilous, spurious and more than a tad bit racist. The historical records reveal that naturally-occurring wild fires seldom burned more than an acre. Current data support this. Unlike the arid West, there are no “dry strikes” of lightning in Missouri; when lightning occurs so do copious amounts of rain which douses any lightning-induced fire. The historical record documents that fire in Missouri forests was deliberately set by indigenous peoples. However, since these were indigenous only by perspective – having arrived here no more than 30,000 years ago by the most liberal reckoning – these fires must be considered as yet one more instance of humans manipulating their environment. The only way that these fires can be considered “natural” is if one asserts that American Indians are less than human.

What it all comes down to is a matter of philosophy. Wild Areas should be wild. No matter how they phrase it, when invasive species are removed, someone’s vision for the Wild Area is being realized. What Reclamation and Restoration means is that trees are whacked down, vegetation is pulled up by the roots, and considerable disturbances of Wild Areas occur. This is completely and totally at odds with the concepts and precepts of wilderness. Manipulation, interference, removal of vegetation (i.e., trees) and “desired future conditions” are what the U.S. Forest Service does in timber sales. This is patently NOT what State Parks staffers should be doing in Wild Areas.

Those of us who love wilderness – and there are many – don’t want to venture into a Wild Area on which someone has imposed their vision. We don’t want to see stumps or wide open spaces between trees where pretty flowers grow – there are such places all over the state, including most cities. We want vines, briars, clutter, underbrush, poison ivy, chiggers, stinging nettle, dead logs, tangled masses not yearning to be free and things that go “crunch” in the night. But, no fresh stumps, please.

Wilderness is an idea, an ideology, a philosophy. There need to be places set aside, where man is indeed but a visitor who does not remain – nor leaves reminders of his visit. It is either a Wild Area or it is not. Even a little manipulation – “Well, all we want to do is remove a few of these cedars that are taking over the glade” – is like being a little bit pregnant. There ain’t no such thing as a Wild Area where manipulation is occurring – it becomes a Primitive Area, or a Semi-Wild Area, or just another park.

What was in the past cannot be truly re-created. We no longer have bison, elk, grizzly bear, black bear, mountain lions, or Indian tribes roaming our state (and if these entities were present, they would be eliminated all over again because they’re messy and undisciplined). When State Parks personnel set out to eliminate some species they consider to be undesirable, their vision is myopic. Without the other components of the original eco-system in place, their actions are akin to tending a flower garden. Well, not “akin to” – in fact that is exactly what they’re doing. Removing what are viewed to be weeds; nurturing desirable plants; creating nice, scenic little vistas, or viewsheds as they’re currently labeled.

Sure, there will be glades taken over by junipers – in my lifetime. These glades were probably taken over by cedars in someone else’s lifetime. At some point in the future, these former glades may once again be glades or maybe not. Wild Areas are not places of instant gratification. Nature doesn’t operate at our dictate or at a pace or a schedule that we can predict or foresee.

There are very few Wild Areas in Missouri State Parks. These are areas that were to be set aside, where natural processes – Ma Nature if you will – established what would be. State Parks personnel have thousands of acres where they can tinker and tend to their hearts’ delight. They can hew, burn, shred, chew and render until the cows (lacking bison) come home. But, they need to leave Wild Areas alone. Even if, particularly if, they don’t quite turn out to look like what some naturalist or ecologist thinks they should.

What some cannot countenance are natural processes. These, akin to democracy, are messy and unpredictable. That, however, is exactly what Wild Areas are supposed to be. Wild. Messy. Unpredictable. Natural. And, yes, lovely – to those of us who love wild things..

Wild and free, let them be.