Celebrating 50 Years of Wilderness
Wilderness always reminds me of the saying “less is more.” It’s true, in the wild, less of everything — people, buildings, lights, noise — is more meaningful to us, especially when things like cars, motors and pavement are completely absent in the wilderness.
Has anyone ever gone to an urban area and said, “I wish there was more noise here?” Not that I can remember, but maybe that’s why I’ve often found myself 30 miles in the Bob Marshall Wilderness thankful for every silent morning and every quiet footstep.
The lack of manmade, industrialized sensations is something that I appreciate the most about the wilderness. Don’t get me wrong — I can fully appreciate a bright, noisy city when that’s where I choose to be.
But that’s just it — it’s about making the choice to be somewhere, at that moment. The reason why I appreciate the lack of such things in the wilderness is because I know that I can make that decision; the preservation of these lands has allowed me to decide when I want to be around cars and people and when I need a break from it, there is somewhere for me to go.
This choice is why we work to preserve our wildlands. So that we can continue to decide, on our own time and under our own power, when we want to be in a city and when we don’t. When we want to be in silence and when we’d appreciate a little action around us.
I realized the value of this when I stood on top of a wilderness lookout near the Chinese Wall in the Bob Marshall Wilderness one night. I could see about 40 miles in every direction, but I couldn’t see a single light.
Even if I tried, I couldn’t see one artificial orange orb for miles. And that was exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want to see any lights; that’s why I had gone there.
This memory sticks with me today. I love the convenience of lights and cars, but when I get tired of them, I know exactly where to go.
Allison Linville worked in the Bob Marshall Wilderness for six years and is now a graduate student at the University of Montana-Missoula.