In this episode, I interview Roderick Frazier Nash, author of Wilderness and the American Mind, retired UC Santa Barbara professor and founder of its interdisciplinary Environmental Studies program, who discusses his background as a historian, longtime Grand Canyon commercial river guide, and reflects on his influential book Wilderness in the American Mind, which grew from his University of Wisconsin PhD work during the rising public interest in environmental protections back in the 1960s. He argues wilderness appreciation and preservation largely emerged from urban culture, citing figures like Theodore Roosevelt and Bob Marshall. Nash explains the historical shift around 1890 from wilderness as enemy to asset, and connects wildness to the human psyche. He recounts early work recovering Aldo Leopold’s legacy and promotes environmental ethics around The Rights of Nature, warns about “gardening” wilderness, and outlines his “Island Civilization” vision of shrinking human footprint to leave more of Earth wild.
Wilderness and the American Mind
Wilderness, Indigenous land zones and regionality in North American forests
06:52 Meet Roderick Nash
09:00 Writing Wilderness and the American Mind
10:59 Urban Roots of Wilderness Appreciation
12:41 Bob Marshall Story
16:23 Nash Leaving Manhattan
21:42 Nash’s First Wild Moments
27:02 Frontier Ends 1890
29:43 Defining Wilderness
36:34 Wilderness Act Origins
38:17 Wilderness Shapes America
40:54 Scarcity Makes It Valuable
44:51 Wildness Within Us
47:05 Aldo Leopold Land Ethic
51:45 Future Threats And Restraint
59:34 Rights Of Nature Law
01:02:48 Island Civilization Vision
