Ben Wiehl: The Place, The Region, And The Commons pg.27-51

In the beginning of this section, Gary Snyder first conveys that he wishes to discuss places as experiences, and give meaning to the phrase "live in place". He goes on to explain how our particular place is part of who we are as individuals, citing the ability to recall upon many years past into your childhood. This is because when you are young, your knowledge of the world about you is very limited. A childs first experiences of the lay of the land around him/her will surely affect them even far into their life journey. Snyder goes on to remark that it is Mother Earth herself who has provided us all that we need, and has actually shaped our being in general. So it is to Mother Earth that we are to pay our ultimate respects to, an argument which seems to be maintained in the section on the Commons. It seems to me that we may not be giving the Wilderness its dues.

We are provided with everything we need, while hardly giving back at all. In this way, I see human kind as a type of parasite to nature. It is hard to imagine how nature would have developed this world on her own had we not been present. You can be sure that Earth would be quite happy to be left to her own natural processes, as humans are the most manipulative creatures in regard to their surroundings. We mine, deforest, pollute, and expand constantly; continually ravaging the land at a higher rate then we conserve it. Snyder provides many accounts of such practices by humans that have had a detrimental affect on natural systems. I agree whole-heartedly with his insistence that "there is no choice but to call for a 'recovery of the commons'", although with most of these land holdings belonging to Federal agencies, I don't see it happening as easily as one might wish.