Life and the Nature of Life — in Parks
— Fifth World Parks Congress, Durban 2003

"Life and the Nature of Life--in Parks." Pages 103-113 in Harmon, David and Allen D. Putney, eds., The Full Value of Parks: From the Economic to the Intangible. Lanham. MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003. A sourcebook for the Fifth World Parks Congress, IUCN, Durban, South Africa, September 2003.
Online at: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/37178

Parks in the greater outdoors provide dimensions of depth belied by the recreational setting. A park is presence and symbol of the timeless natural givens. Humans realize within themselves something of the strength and goodness that nature has disciplined into its creatures. Parks put cultured humans in dialectic with spontaneous wild nature. In parks, we place boundaries and reserve sanctuaries where the nonhuman community of life is respected and can remain. Thereby we are uniquely human and our spirits are enriched.

Reprinted in The George Wright Forum 21(no. 2, June, 2004):69-77.