The American wilderness: from liability to asset, a study in changing attitudes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-92)As the American wilderness has shrunk from continental proportions to a decimated remnant, so attitudes towards it have been radically altered. Exploitation has given way to\ud preservation in a span of less than a century. Once it was recognized that wilderness was worth saving, controversies developed over the relative merits of the various possible uses for it. The most recent concern\ud has been to avoid recreational overuse, which destroys both\ud the values that make it worth saving, and eventually the\ud wilderness itself. A sample of San Fernando Valley State College students\ud were found to value the wilderness for much the same reasons as wilderness users. Foremost among these were the\ud opportunity to observe the beauty of nature, and the chance\ud to get away from civilization for a while