Episode 5: Tame, Bountiful, and Blessed

If you want to make small changes, change how you do things. If you want to make big changes, change how you see things. And today, friends, we are focused on big changes. Our understanding of "wilderness" in America prevents us from having healthy relationships with the land. It pits farmers and conservationists against each other unnecessarily. It complicates categorizing my farm. In today's episode, I tap into my roots as a past English teacher. We look at a little etymology, and deconstruct the cultural and ecological assumptions of the word "wilderness". I use a quote from Luther Standing Bear to illuminate how differently modern Americans view wilderness from Native Americans, and as an example of a better way to think about "wilderness". The upshot? We should think of "wilderness" as tame, bountiful, and blessed.