Inscribing Wilderness: Redrawing Lines of Landscape and Vision on Western Public Lands, USA

Abstract

Overlapping boundaries and ambiguous jurisdictions have shaped the landscapes of the western United States. Inscribing Wilderness proposes expanding the Arizona National Scenic Trail, the rectilinear geometries that have defined the borders of these landscapes create layered histories where physical and juridical space does not always match. Understanding that wilderness is a construction where boundaries are plural and porous, the proposal recalibrates lines of control, as displayed on maps, and lines on the ground, the result of landscape maintenance. The trans-state, trans-agency trail would create an autonomous territory, thus redrawing space through map and plan, where the irony of wilderness is exposed to confront visions, value, and expectations of conservation.

Keywords

Wilderness / Public Lands / Mapping / Arizona National Scenic Trail

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press