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Introduction

Task

Process
Define Wilderness
Wilderness Means...
Is this Wilderness?
Wilderness Values
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ParkWise > Teachers > Perspectives >Concepts of Wilderness

Concepts of Wilderness:
Introduction

Planning for the future of national parks means that park researchers have to study park resources to make sure they are not threatened. There are many ways that visitors can enjoy their national parks, by car, on foot, and like these two visitors, on bikes.
NPS Photos from left to right: Tour bus at Denali National Park, a national park researcher,
two bicyclists enjoy the beauty of Denali.

For Westerners, the term "wilderness" derives from the Anglo-Saxon word "wilddeoren" and, later, the Old English "wildernesse." Both words translate roughly as "place of wild beasts."

Native American cultures had a different "take" on wilderness. There was no word for wilderness; there was only homeland.

Have you ever visited an area that has been designated as Wilderness or that you think of as wilderness? How do you define wilderness?

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