to greater community awareness and possibly to spiritual growth. The implication of the community model process is that spiritual growth may be a multi-dimensional construct, and may be manifested without either anticipation nor immediate recognition in the course of other wilderness experiences. A PARADIGM FOR CONSIDERING VALUE The value of spiritual growth seems on the surface to be primarily a personal value, but the measurement of this value has not been widely explored in research methodology. Arlie Hochschild (1979) describes what she calls "feeling rules", social guidelines that tell us how we think we should feel. Examples of feeling rules are: a feeling of reverence in church, sadness at funerals, sympathy at misfortune, etc. Spiritual growth shares some characteristics with the notion of feeling rules. Outdoor recreation and wilderness experiences, like church-going experiences, may culturally and socially prime individuals and groups to feel spiritually uplifted. Hochschild reports that feeling rules do not apply to action but rather are a precursor to action. Spiritual growth on the other hand, is more likely the result of some action, whether it be activity or passive thought. For both concepts (feeling rules and spiritual growth), "they tend to be latent and therefore resistant to formal codification" (Hochschild 1979). It is this characteristic of latency that obscures the identification and measurement of the value of spiritual growth. If spiritual growth can be defined as an awareness of self-other interrelatedness that becomes part of the individual's life-style and world-view, and the wilderness setting provides outstanding examples of this interrelatedness, then the value of spiritual growth may be viewed within perceptual zones of community structures and environments. Based on the Driver and Brown Recreation Experience Preference Domains, it is apparent that some recent efforts have been made to identify individual spiritual/introspective benefits, and to assess their role in recreation experience. However, the occurrence of spiritual growth may have social and environmental value well beyond the individual, as depicted in Figure 6. Spiritual growth is probably similar to many other cultural values in that its manifestation is rooted in cultural norms. For example, a Christians's view of spiritual growth is different in many ways from a Hindu's. However, some of the values of spiritual growth are universal; for example, a concern for a relationship to the omnipotent, omnipresent uniting force, whatever it is perceived to be. WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS Land managing agencies have attempted to identify the "isolation potential" of an area as a measure of its fitness for solitude. The USDA Forest Service listed physical components of wilderness isolation to assist in its inventory including, for example, size of area, topographic screening, vegetative screening, and size of area. While these are sincere attempts to inventory areas suitable for certain types of wilderness experience, they lack a depth of insight into the solitary experience, and the historical-cultural foundations of spiritual and inspirational wilderness experiences. An inventory-like attempt to measure wilderness solitude is incomplete, however. Spiritual experiences need not be totally solitary, and spiritual opportunities and settings are undoubtedly infinite. However, wilderness managers may consider such attributes as proximity to wildlife or opportunities to view and contemplate wildlife, auditory protection from man-made (mechanical, etc.) sounds, outstanding aesthetic opportunities, and either open and expansive or closed-in and protected natural areas, high places, water resources, and environmental quality and integrity. Wilderness areas provide a unique environment for contemplation of universal life exemplified in nature. Wilderness areas' unique character lies in their unaltered natural Figure 6.--Expanding Spheres of Continuity Larger Human Individual Immediate Community Natural Environment state (or one which is perceived by the user as being unaltered). If an individual were seeking a spiritual experience, to be truly alone with God or with nature, that individual would find few places for refuge. As world population continues to grow and metropolitan areas expand along transportation corridors like the spokes of a wheel, fewer untouched natural areas will be available for the spiritual pilgrim seeking true solitude. For those who come to their spiritual growth accidentally, the wilderness setting provides important opportunities for serendipitous discovery that is conducive to such growth and awareness. Therefore, a paradox emerges. If the wilderness system remains as it is, a growing population that will be consciously or unconsciously seeking its spiritual growth in wilderness will visit the areas more frequently, creating more crowded conditions, which will be less conducive to provide the spiritual benefits all seek. Some spiritual opportunities will likely be destroyed. In a spiritual sense for some cultures and some places this has already occurred. Perhaps most individuals and cultures will adapt, and be content with finding their spiritual attunement with nature in more developed settings, such as backyards or metropolitan parks and zoos. It is inevitable that the population of the United States will increase, bringing social and environmental change that will impact the uses, experiences, and physical integrity of wilderness areas. A recent Supreme Court Case (October, 1987) examined the relationship between the Free Exercise (of religion) Clause of the First Amendment and the government's authority to manage the public lands. At issue was a tract of land in the Six Rivers National Forest. Three tribes, the Yurok, Karok, and Tolowa, claimed that Forest Service plans for logging would destroy the religious and spiritual quality of the area, and infringe on their freedom of religion. The Forest Service management plan was upheld by the court, on the grounds that the Free Exercise Clause guarantees the right of the individual to shape their own religious conduct free from coercive government action, and the Forest Service plan could not be considered coercive action. What is important to this paper, however, is the recognition that if public land management actions may impair, prohibit, or destroy spiritual experience, the corollary must also be considered: Management may also enhance, promote, and preserve such experience. The spiritual questions and quest of man have seemingly changed little over the centuries. Herman Hesse, writing in 1929, explored man's spiritual quest through the development of Steppenwolf, his main character in the book of the same name. During a conversation with his new-found "spiritual guide," she says to Steppenwolf: "It has always been so and always It seems reasonable to assume that the quest for spiritual understanding and experience will remain as critical in the future as it is today and has been in the past. Yet, with fewer places for refuge from modern "intrusions", such as technology, man may find that many of his spiritual questions must remain unanswered. Spiritual growth is primarily, "in the eye of the beholder." Can land managers really enhance opportunities for spiritual growth? If spiritual growth is also related to cultural and religious norms, then broad guidelines may be established. Native Americans, in their minimal management of the land and in the design of their villages, integrated spiritual beliefs into all aspects of their lifestyle, e.g. the thousands of Kivas (some in use today) that may be found in the Southwest. With a recognition of the possible spiritual value of wilderness areas and other public lands, resource management actions may be guided by social, cultural, and environmental principles that enhance or promote the spiritual characteristics of the environment. Research is needed to explore and identify the universal characteristics of environments conducive to spiritual growth and awareness. Perhaps a research partnership with departments of philosophy and religion, landscape architecture, social sciences, and natural resource management could address the question in an interdisciplinary manner. More specific attention should be given to the unique and critical role that wilderness areas play in the spiritual growth and awareness of Americans. For only as we begin to understand these topics better will we understand more fully ourselves. REFERENCES Absher, James. Personal Communication, November 10, 1987. Annual Report, National Audubon Society. 1986. New York: National Audubon Society 32 pp. Annual Report. 1986. Outward Bound USA. Greenwich, Connecticut. 17 pp. Brown, Joseph E. 1982. The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Co., 135 pp. Brown, Michael. 1987. Wilderness Vision Quest: Exploring the Frontiers in Human Resource Development. Paper presented at the 4th World Wilderness Congress. Estes Park, Colorado. September 14-18. Chaplain's Information, Boy Scouts of America. Irving, TX. Driver, B. L. and Perry J. Brown. 1986. Graber, Linda H. 1976. Wilderness as Sacred Association of American Geographers. Hearing Before the Select Committee on Indian Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Public THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION VALUES OF WILDERNESS ABSTRACT Terence Yorks* My target is to address the use, capability, opportunities, and constraints of wilderness to produce renewable resources such as fish, wildlife, and water within wilderness for eventual consumption outside of wilderness. To go beyond theory will require an increase in specifically targeted funding. Meanwhile, it can be suggested that three basic laws drive all production: (1) as biological diversity increases, so does the presence of materials of use to humans, (2) pollution is absolutely related to energy use, (3) as energy use increases, diversity decreases. Since management as wilderness requires least energy use, it is actually in the best potential position among land optimization strategies to support our economic as well as our psychic needs. Concentrating on exceptions and management errors in the past has left us blind to this more general rule. Social, rather than practical considerations, hold back these. hypotheses most sharply, including our failure to separate inappropriate use of machines from potentials for commercial production. A CAVEAT I am in absolute agreement with the importance of hard numbers, and the utility of the requested scheme for organization of papers in this group. Unfortunately, useful numbers always have been available only in exchange for dollars, despite a mystique among salaried scientists that they should simply be given. The following paper was prepared without financial support to allow the full use of the powerful tools, techniques, and collected information already available for the task. This is reflected in the lack of reference citations. In assessing wilderness survey work, one should begin by musing on the meaning of "professional," by definition work that is paid for, with quality related to price. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN In the interim, there are some important points which can be made with logic, which should be at the heart of a good scientific undertaking, including observations that might help uncover some of the funding needed to begin the job aright. First is clarifying some of the underlying reasons why wilderness has the capability to produce far more renewable resources than most people expect. In this especially, numbers alone are not the whole story; the context of wilderness is indispensable. Accordingly, this sketch will follow how the very constraints that make wilderness areas require special management actually allow maximizing any land's overall productive potential. The conclusion projects a rather unique framework in which to organize a more complete analysis of that potential now and in the future. YORKS' FOUR LAWS OF PRODUCTIVITY: (1) In the long run, as biological diversity increases, so does the production of materials of use to humans. (2) Pollution is absolutely and unalterably related to energy use. This puts limits on machinery in a most interesting light. (3) As energy use increases, diversity decreases. Production losses follow. This is the reason for the two first rules' importance to wilderness and to economics. (4) For each rule, many exceptions can be found, but three questions should follow. Does the argument using the exception obscure the overall truth? Could the exception be sustained for a million years? If a million years seems irrelevant, how long should human society last? * Consultant on Natural Resource Issues, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. |