IR Cabins

[johnhens]

Good article about the cabins, Cultural Resources of IR.
https://savingplaces.org/stories/americ ... AonMvkrK70

[MikeT]

Thanks for the link. Very good article.

[Ingo]

Great article and perspective. This line really jumped out at me, "New development in wilderness is clearly offensive, but so is pretending that wild places lack history."

[Midwest Ed]

The author presented very reasoned observations. That same concluding quote struck me as well. The quote with additional important context is:

"...it’s time to abandon the notion that wilderness exists in some primeval state, bereft of human history. New development in wilderness is clearly offensive, but so is pretending that wild places lack history. Old buildings, abandoned mining sites, and historic cemeteries in wilderness areas represent the rare stories and fortitude of people who clawed out existences in America’s most remote, wildest places."

This situation is a good example of the existence of unintended consequences that happens with almost all laws. I've read enough of the 1964 Wilderness Act to believe that there are several methods for the NPS to resolve this without Congressional action. The author pointed out one method that would redraw the wilderness boundary lines and claimed it would required Congressional approval. Several exemptions exist in the Wilderness Act allowing for Executive action based on National Park standards, or educational or historical values.

The author somewhat skirted the subject of the loss of some structures directly due to the actions of past NPS employees.

[johnhens]

I agree with the author, the history of the Island is part of its identity and should be preserved through buildings, mines ect.

[treeplanter]

Thanks for posting this. A very interesting article.