“Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness

This paper contends that Aldo Leopold’s pursuit of unpeopled wilderness had a disturbing corollary—a disdain for human population growth that culminated in a critique of providing food and medical aid to developing nations. Although Leopold never fully shared these ideas with the public, he explored...

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Main Author: Powell, Miles Alexander
Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105159
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/26009
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/phr.2015.84.2.195
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1051592019-12-06T21:46:44Z “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness Powell, Miles Alexander School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Humanities::History This paper contends that Aldo Leopold’s pursuit of unpeopled wilderness had a disturbing corollary—a disdain for human population growth that culminated in a critique of providing food and medical aid to developing nations. Although Leopold never fully shared these ideas with the public, he explored them in multiple unpublished manuscripts, and he submitted a first draft of one of these essays to a press. Leopold also exchanged these views with the most popular environmental Malthusian of his day, William Vogt, whose exposition of nearly identical arguments won him national fame. By revealing connections between wilderness thought and callous proposed social policy, this paper identifies a new dimension of what environmental historian William Cronon called the “Trouble with Wilderness.” This manuscript further calls into question whether the concept of wilderness is inherently exclusionary and misanthropic. Published version 2015-06-23T02:08:03Z 2019-12-06T21:46:44Z 2015-06-23T02:08:03Z 2019-12-06T21:46:44Z 2015 2015 Journal Article Powell, M. A. (2015). “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness. Pacific historical review, 84(2), 195-226. 0030-8684 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105159 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/26009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/phr.2015.84.2.195 en Pacific historical review © 2015 University of California Press. This paper was published in Pacific Historical Review and is made available as an electronic reprint (preprint) with permission of University of California Press. The paper can be found at the following official DOI: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/phr.2015.84.2.195]. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law. 33 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Humanities::History
spellingShingle DRNTU::Humanities::History
Powell, Miles Alexander
“Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
description This paper contends that Aldo Leopold’s pursuit of unpeopled wilderness had a disturbing corollary—a disdain for human population growth that culminated in a critique of providing food and medical aid to developing nations. Although Leopold never fully shared these ideas with the public, he explored them in multiple unpublished manuscripts, and he submitted a first draft of one of these essays to a press. Leopold also exchanged these views with the most popular environmental Malthusian of his day, William Vogt, whose exposition of nearly identical arguments won him national fame. By revealing connections between wilderness thought and callous proposed social policy, this paper identifies a new dimension of what environmental historian William Cronon called the “Trouble with Wilderness.” This manuscript further calls into question whether the concept of wilderness is inherently exclusionary and misanthropic.
author2 School of Humanities and Social Sciences
author_facet School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Powell, Miles Alexander
format Article
author Powell, Miles Alexander
author_sort Powell, Miles Alexander
title “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
title_short “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
title_full “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
title_fullStr “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
title_full_unstemmed “Pestered with inhabitants”: Aldo Leopold, William Vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
title_sort “pestered with inhabitants”: aldo leopold, william vogt, and more trouble with wilderness
publishDate 2015
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105159
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/26009
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/phr.2015.84.2.195
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