Follow up to Camping and Wealth-Thoughts on the book Billionaire Wilderness

Last November I wrote about some observations I made while spending time in our RV at a nearby reservoir and subsequently found a great read related to the topic: Billionaire Wilderness, by Justin Farell. I very much enjoyed the book as it's the first serious study I've seen on the topic and my weekend at the reservoir really cued an interest.  I thought Mr. Farrell (Associate Professor at Yale) did a great job of framing the complexity of the environment and categorizing the issues at play.  I was left to think about what is to be done and whom, however, on which topics Mr. Farrell refrained from elaborating on too deeply. 

The author's unique ability to have candid discussions with ultra-wealthy residents of Jackson Hole, Wyoming allows him to assert that, "nature takes on unique power for the ultra-wealthy," and leads them to, "leverage nature to climb even higher," and to, "use nature and rural people as a vehicle for personal transformation, creating versions of themselves they view as more authentic, virtuous, and community minded."  In addition to speaking with wealthy residents Mr. Farrell conducted research amongst the "rural people" who in large part provide manual labor for the area.  

This book's research is in line with my beliefs that nature has much to be desired and that those with more means are doing what they can to leverage it in their lives or even exploit it according to their business or political agendas.  Combine that with the reality of an ever-growing disparity between the "haves" and "have nots" in America and I get concerned about Joe Public being able to access beautiful lands in America.  Recent efforts by the federal government to further reduce the availability of natural national treasures to the public gives more concern to those that think everyone should have the ability to access the greatness that nature has to offer.  All cities are becoming more and more populated and the reality is that there just isn't as much wild space as there used to be.  People have to really go further out into the woods to find truly isolated spaces. 

While the Jackson Hole of Billionaire Wilderness has unique issues that will have to be addressed by those who live there, we all need to be good stewards of areas meaningful to us and do what we can to safeguard them against forces that would prevent future enjoyment of them.  That could mean many things but it all starts with an awareness that these wonderful outdoor places are becoming crowded and of great interest to more than just recreationists.  Gone are the carefree days when it was granted that there were beautiful and wild places for everyone to enjoy, when there were more spaces than people seeking them out.  The converse is now true, may we all be cognizant and vigilant to maintain their greatness for now and for the future.