“The Trouble with Wilderness” Education in the National Park Service: The Case of the Lost Cattle Mounts of Congaree

Abstract

Due to recent policy changes, the amount of land that the National Park Service (NPS) manages as wilderness stands to rise considerably in coming decades. As it does, the number of cultural resources located in wilderness areas of the NPS will grow in kind. According to environmental historian William Cronon, our modern concept of wilderness is problematic: “it leaves no place for human beings” and ”represents a flight from history.” Taking Congaree National Park as its case study, this essay considers how, because of Cronon's “trouble with wilderness,” new wilderness designations and increasing emphasis on wilderness education in the NPS in the twenty-first century could adversely affect historical interpretation of some of the country's most valuable cultural resources.