By Phil Knight
What good is designated wilderness? Are the Lee Metcalf or the Absaroka Beartooth “wasted lands” because people can’t just go do whatever they want there?
I am currently (temporarily) disabled from a fall and cannot walk unassisted. There will be no wilderness trips for me this summer.
I’ve already enjoyed a lifetime’s worth of wild adventures in spectacular landscapes like the Washakie Wilderness and the Gros Ventre Wilderness and the Gallatin Range (which should be wilderness). I will be back once I heal.
The wilderness and its wildlife do not exist for my pleasure and my benefit. Yet I do enjoy many benefits from the existence of wilderness, as do we all. Even if I could never go there again I would value wild places just as much. It is a great solace to me to know that bears and wolves and elk and moose and mountain lions, frogs and birds and fish and grouse, can live in places where the hand of man is not obvious, where nature still rules. I know the water still flows, the trees still grow, the mountains still stand.
As the extinction crisis gets worse, climate change kicks in, ice caps melt and seas rise we are faced with the fact that perhaps we are not so wise. We need a more holistic approach to existence. Protecting wilderness is one of the best ways to demonstrate our humility and respect for this planet and its millions of life forms. Wilderness designation is the gold standard and sets aside lands where life can unfold under its own terms. Wilderness also gives room to help mitigate climate change.
I will certainly miss my wilderness time this year. But will the wilderness miss me? Not at all, and that is as it should be.
Phil is a long time defender and explorer of Greater Yellowstone, and serves on the board of the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance. He is the first person to climb the highest peak in all 22 of Greater Yellowstone's mountain ranges.
Editor's notes:
“Wilderness Experienced” is our shared stories and musings about recent experiences in our nation's Wildernesses. Stories focus on the virtues of Wilderness and/or challenges facing the National Wilderness Preservation System. We want to hear your story! Learn more and submit a story.
Phil's piece originally appeared in the Bozeman Chronicle on June 6, 2022.
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