In This Issue...
Earth Day 2009

The Hemlock
Volume 2, Issue 7 (April 2009)

Outdoor Recreation "...When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, Hath
Equipment
put a spirit of youth in everything..." --William
Available for
Shakespeare
Students

"Wood Frogs and
Vernal Pools" by
Mark Smith
"Understanding and
Collecting
Toadstools and
Other Mushroomlike Fungi" by Dr.
Barrie E. Overton
"Song of the Season"
by Zach Fishel
"Looking for the
Invisible
Green. Canasorgu
No Easier to Find"
by Harlan Berger

"Spring Flowers" was taken by Nathan Fought (LHUP Art Major) on Fairview
Street, Lock Haven, on March 19th, 2009. Be sure to check out the exhibit of
Nathan's photography at Avenue 209. You'll recognize many of the
photographs from previous issues of The Hemlock.

"What is EcoFeminism?" by Joan Another Spring!
Whitman Hoff
We're delighted to report that our March issue on the Marcellus Shale has
"Book Review: J.
Baird Callicott and
Michael P. Nelson
eds. The Great New
Wilderness
Debate and The
Wilderness Debate
Rages On " by Bob
Myers

received a surprising amount of attention. Over 2000 people have visited the
website, and we've received positive responses from a surprisingly large
number of people outside of our normal network of readers. Thanks to all of
you who forwarded the March Hemlock--please continue to do so and please
encourage your friends to email Bob Myers if they would like to be included
on our regular distribution list. We will continue to offer updates on this
important issue. Also, we're pleased that The Hemlock can now be accessed
from the LHUP website.

This issue returns to the diverse collection of articles on outdoor recreation,
"Hike of the
Month: The Midenvironmentalism, and local culture that has been our trademark. We remain
State Trail to Round

Top" by Bob Myers

Past Issues
Previous Hikes
of the Month

appreciative of the faculty, staff, and students who continue to contribute such
interesting work. Please contact Bob if you would like to participate.
Earth Day 2009
There are many events in our area associated with
Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22). Indeed, "Earth
Week" would probably be a better way to describe
it.
Wednesday, April 22 (Earth Day)
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The "Living Green"
Campus-Community Health Fair will be held in
the Student Recreation Center. It is being cosponsored by The Department of Health Science,
the Wellness Center, Safe Haven, Lock Haven Hospital, and the Student
Recreation Center. A community health walk is scheduled to begin at noon
from the Student Recreation Center and will proceed along the dike to around
the YMCA. The first 100 walkers will receive $5.00 gift certificates to
Subway. There will be exhibitors from area health and wellness agencies,
including the DCNR's Bureau of Forestry and Rock, River and Trail
Outfitters. There will be door prize drawings throughout the day, including
Birds of Pennsylvania by Gerald McWilliams and Daniel Brauning. All
attendees will receive a free frisbee courtesy of the Student Recreation
Center. For more information, contact Professor Rick Schulze at
fschulze@lhup.edu.
7:00 to 8:30 p.m. The English Department is sponsoring “An Evening with
Henry David Thoreau.” The famous environmentalist/philosopher/author
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) will visit Lock Haven University's PUB
MultiPurpose Room through the dramatic skills of experienced scholar-actor
Kevin Radaker. The presentation is free and open to the public. Radaker will
present the provocative spirit and words of Henry David Thoreau a dramatic
monologue set in 1860, when America was poised upon the brink of the Civil
War. Thoreau is famous as America's mid-nineteenth-century apostle of the
wilderness, social critic, and political thinker. Immediately after the 45-minute
dramatic monologue, Radaker, while still in character as Thoreau, will answer
questions from the audience for 15-20 minutes. Then Radaker will answer
questions as himself, a Thoreau scholar, for another 15-20 minutes. Any
questions about the performance should be directed to Bob Myers, 570-8942236 or rmyers3@lhup.edu. Dr. Radaker's website is:
http://thoreaulive.com/_wsn/page3.html.
Friday, April 24 (Arbor Day)
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. In honor of Arbor Day, the Environmental Focus Group

will be planting ten hemlock trees in front of Russell Building. The tree
planting was prompted by a suggestion by Professor Tom Farley, and made
possible by Dave Proctor and the Physical Plant. All are welcome to
attend. Any questions should be directed to Bob Myers, 570-484-2236 or
rmyers3@lhup.edu.
Saturday, April 25th
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Join , Clinton County CleanScapes, the Williamsport
Flood/Parks Authority & Comcast caring community members as they remove
man-made debris from the streambanks of Lycoming Creek. Participants will
meet in Memorial Park at 8:30 AM & the event ends at 12:30 with
complementary lunch & refreshments for all participants. Free shuttle service
is available from LHUP complements of the Wayne Twp. Landfill (seating
must be reserved prior to the event). Pre-registration is required by 12 noon
on April 23rd. Pre-registration & questions should be forwarded to CCC
Project Director Elisabeth Lynch McCoy at
clintoncountycleanscapes@yahoo.com or at 570-726-3511.
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Biology Club will be celebrating Earth Day on
Russell Lawn (rain location--Rogers Gym). There will be displays, music,
speakers, raffles, nature films, and activities for children (face painting, bird
feeder making). If you are interested in participating, or have any questions,
email Cody Bliss at bbliss@@lhup.edu.
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Facilities-Maintenance Department is hosting a
recycling day. You can drop off your items at the Hursh-Nevel
Building. Items that can be recycled that day are cans (bi-metal & aluminum),
glass, plastics, office paper (magazines, junk mail), newspaper, corrugated
cardboard, batteries, all electronics (computers, printers, televisions, vcr’s, cell
phones, stereo’s, dvd players), appliances, used motor oil, metal, and tires. All
items must be sorted. If you have any questions please call Colleen Meyer at
570-484-2949 or email cmeyer@lhup.edu.
Outdoor Recreation Equipment Available for Students
Thanks to the hard work of Student Rec Center Director Brad Dally, LHUP
students can now rent outdoor recreation equipment at a reduced price. Brad
has worked out an agreement with Lock Haven's outdoor outfitter, Rock River
& Trail, to make equipment available to LHUP students at a 10%
discount. Available equipment includes kayaks, backpacking gear (tents,
sleeping bags, backpacks), bikes, and snowshoes. The complete list is available
online (note that these prices do not include the LHUP student discount).

Wood Frogs and Vernal Pools
--Mark Smith (LHUP English Professor)
Vernal pools are crucibles of
creation this time of year,
temporary wetlands vital for
the survival of frogs,
salamanders, newts, and
toads. They are fragile
habitats, easily disturbed,
but because they dry out
there are no fish to prey
upon the young. A safe
haven, in other words, but it
can be a race against time
for amphibians to reproduce before the pools dry up for the summer months.
I’ve been visiting a vernal pool these past weeks, just to see what quickens and
when. I follow the Kammerdiner Run out of Castanea up to its source between
two ancient folds of Bald Eagle Mountain, and then beyond where the pool sits
like a green navel in the high plateau of the forest. Each time I take this walk,
somewhere along that gently climbing trail, these words of John Burroughs
have come to mind: “the place to observe nature is where you are; the walk to
take to-day is the walk you took yesterday. You will not find just the same
things: both the observed and the observer have changed; the ship is on
another tack in both cases.”
Vernal pools take some pretty wild tacks this time of year. Five weeks ago we
had a low of nine degrees and the pool was locked in ice. Three weeks ago we
hit sixty and the wood frogs suddenly arrived. Wood frogs are among the first
to announce the coming of spring. They are extremely hardy, the only
American frog that lives above the Arctic circle, and they have the incredible
ability to survive winter under leaf litter by simply freezing. They cease
breathing, and as much as 35-45% of their bodies can freeze solid. When the
weather thaws so do they, and then it’s time to head to the pools.
The call of a single wood frog is often described as a chuckle or a quack but
join 5000 or more together and from a distance you have something that
sounds rather like a factory running overtime. At the sound, my pace
quickened and a smile spread across my face.
I arrived to a wild throng of frogs, heads and eyes poking above the water,
throat sacs swelling. Wood frogs are daytime creatures (diurnal) and hundreds
more were arriving on all sides through the sunny woods, converging in

groups of three or four, leapfrogging through the leaf litter to get to the pool.
The southern third of the pool, more shaded by the bare trees, was still
covered in ice, and the frogs on that side hopped bravely across the white
expanse to reach open water. All stared intently forward, drawn to the pool by
the overpowering chorus, and by something less tangible to us humans, some
complex aroma of home, perhaps.
I sat leaning against a tree, and as frogs passed by I picked them up to look at
them. They cowered in my hand, yes, but what struck me most was some
ancient, unperturbed calm reflected in the eyes. These frogs were in it for the
ages. These frogs could sit in my hand and wait me out. One pair arrived
already locked in amplexus, that implacable union of male and female frog. I
picked up the couple and the male, adjusting his Heimlich grip around the
female, seemed about to squeeze the breath and the eggs right out of his mate.
The male was smaller and darker, while the female was fat with eggs and
covered in brighter shades of pink and tan and green. I looked at the golden
iris, the calm black pupil, and these frogs looked right through me, right past
my species altogether. They were primordial and holy. I intercepted them as
they passed, felt the warmth of my hand bleed into their cold bellies, then
released them to their humble, necessary destinies.
One week later I returned to the vernal pool, the forest navel. As I approached
I listened for the frogs but there was nothing. I met instead an eerie, highground silence and found that the wood frogs—every last one of them—had
vanished, dispersed for another year into the surrounding woods. Their part in
the creation was done, and all that remained were the eggs: globs of eggs big
as softballs, all clumped in a single mat maybe five by twenty-five feet. Redspotted newts had taken the frogs’ place, and I found them paired off as well,
clasped together in the midst of the jelly.
I grabbed a handful of slick eggs and examined them in the sun. There was no
definition to the embryos yet, but they were not spherical either, not like black
peppercorns, though they were about that size. They were headstrong, blunt
commas with the makings of head and tail. They had direction and purpose. A
hundred sharp, black possibilities developing quickly in the palm of my hand
and heading into another spring, another quickened round of beautiful life.
Addendum: April 2: At some point during the past week, ATV’s and 4x4 trucks
arrived at the vernal pool for some “mudding.” Some find this activity
enjoyable. Others find it childish and reprehensible. In this case, the four
wheelers drove straight through the pool and got terrifically stuck. Lots of
wheelspin, flying mud and deep ruts followed. Evidently the vehicles had to
be freed with winches and chains wrapped around nearby trees. The vehicles
were extricated, but not without causing inexcusable damage.

Two white pines and one very large stump were pulled out of the ground by
the winches. Approximately half the pool is lost in silt. All amphibian eggs
there are smothered and few will develop. The pools is located on Bald Eagle
State Forest Land in an area where four wheeling is not permitted. This
incident has reminded me yet again that we cannot rest in our efforts to
increase environmental awareness, to educate those who need it.
(Editor's Note: Mark Smith's essay “Animalcules and Other Little Subjects”
was selected by the John Burroughs Association as the best published essay in
the genre of nature writing; it will appear in The Best American Science and
Nature Writing 2009.)
Understanding and Collecting Toadstools and Other Mushroom-like Fungi
--Dr. Barrie E. Overton (LHUP Biology Professor)
Early spring is one of my favorite times of the year. Mushrooms are blooming,
the deer and turkey are active, the temperature is cool, and the bug population
is just starting to heat up. It is also the time of year I am often asked, what is
the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool.
In the loosest possible terms a mushroom has a fruit-body like an apple that is
the site of meiosis or gamete formation (think sperm and eggs). Mushrooms
do not have seeds like an apple, but they produce spores, which are spread
like seeds. Mushrooms (like the ones we eat on pizza) produce their spores on
clubs called basidia, usually located on the gill portion of a fruit-body which is
called a basidiocarp. Mushrooms are different from other fungi, such as those
which produce their spores in sacs, called asci, found in folded regions of the
fruit-body, which is called an ascocarp. A prime example of this type of
fungus is the “morel” (pictured to the left), which should start popping up in
several weeks in mass in Pennsylvania. There are many “morel” festivals held
at the end of April, beginning of May throughout the Northeast and Midwest,
complete with wine tasting and music. In fact, this is the only mushroom-like
fungus that has caused fist fights among collectors. The problem is that the
word "mushroom" is often used--incorrectly--by non-scientists and scientists as
an umbrella term to cover fungi in both groups.
The term "toadstool" has a completely different origin. The word "toadstool"
first appeared in printed form in 1495. A physician, Bartholomeus Angelicus
in the thirteenth century compiled a nineteen-volume encyclopedia in Latin
entitled De Proprietatibus Rerum (“On the Properties of Things”), which when
translated included in its text the term "tadstoles." Bartholomeus Angelicus did
not view fungi with great regard; and elsewhere referred to them as venomous
mutes ("mute" meant bird excrement). Bartholomeus had a strictly
mycophobic, or mushroom hating, interpretation of fungi, and consequently

the term toadstool, then and now, typically refers to poisonous mushrooms.
Nothing illustrates this better than the following poem from the Grete Herball,
published in 1526: "Fungi ben musheroms; there be two manners of them, one
manner is deedly and slayeth them that eateth them and be called tode stoles, and the
other doeth not."
Despite the slanders of Angelicus, Herball, and other
mycophobes, mushrooms have been consumed for a long time. Martial (A.D.
40-A.D. I02) writes in his Satires: “Argentum atque aurum facile est, laenam
togamque miltere; Boletus miltere difficile est," or “it is easy to despise gold and
silver but very hard to leave a plate of mushrooms untouched.” My favorite
edible fungus can be found in the supermarket and is called Lentinula edodes,
the shiitake. It is great chopped into small pieces and fried in a pan with garlic
and butter, in soups, and cooked on the grill. Mushrooms also have health
benefits. A polysaccaride called lentinan derivived from extracts of Lentinula
edodes has been shown in clinical trials to reduce tumors in mice. For more
information on the medicinal and toxic nature of fungal metabolites, I
recommend the book, Mushrooms Poisons and Panaceas (Benjamin, 1995).
So as a beginning “mycophile” (mushroom lover), what do you need to get
started? The first step is to get your hands on field guides and introductory
mycology textbooks. My favorite textbook is Introductory
Mycology (Alexopoulos, Mims and Blackwell, 1996). There are generally two
types of field guides, those with mainly pictures, and those with pictures and
text. My favorite picture guide is Mushrooms of North America (Phillips,
1991). My favorite text and picture guide is Mushrooms Demystified (Aurora,
1986). Another excellent and inexpensive field guide is The Audubon Society
Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (Lincoff, 1981).
A text and picture guide provides keys and references to additional
information. Keys are short descriptions provided in series requiring you to
make a decision about the fungus, thereby leading you to a specific species. I
recommend that you become familiar with keys as they help you learn
characteristics of fungi. If you purchased these books, you would be well on
your way to understanding fungi and recognizing many of the fungi you will
find on forays.
The second step as you may have already guessed is actually collecting fungi
on a foray, which is an event consisting on average of about 40 people,
professional and amateur, that get together for several days, usually over a
weekend for the collection and identification of fungi. As with any activity,
forays draw people with a diversity of backgrounds from the beginner to the
professional. I try to attend at least two forays a year and I would guess that
about 80% of the fungi I recognize, I learned at forays from amateur and

professional mycologists. It is not uncommon for me to be at a foray and to
learn from an amateur mycologist a species I previously could not
recognize. Both professional and self-taught mycologists will be in attendance
so it is a great chance to network with others studying fungi. In our area, the
Western PA Mushroom Club has weekly collections trips and all are welcome.
The final step is to take good notes when collecting. For each mushroom you
collect, record the date, location, and habitat where you were collecting. Pay
particular attention to the color of the gills, whether the mushroom bruised
when you picked it up, what it smells like, the type of tree the mushroom was
growing near, and anything else you can think of. Treat each collection like it
was gold, take notes on it, and place it into its own collection bag (brown lunch
bags work nicely).
If you decide to cook and eat a wild mushroom, remember this saying, “There
are old mycologists and bold mycologists, but there are no old, bold
mycologists.” Unfortunately, it's true some toadstools--sorry I mean
mushrooms--are extremely poisonous, so you have to be certain of what you
are eating. Mycology (BIOL 317) will be offered at Lock Haven this fall, and
the first ever Central Pennsylvania Mushroom Foray will be held at the Seig
Center over Labor Day weekend. You should plan to attend!
Selected References:







Alexopoulos, C. J., Mims, C. W., and M. Blackwell. Introductory
Mycology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.
Arora, David. Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed
Press, 1986.
Benjamin, D. R. Mushrooms: Poisons and Panaceas. New York: W. H.
Freeman, 1995.
Lincoff, Gary H. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American
Mushrooms. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.
Morgan, Adrian. Toads and Toadstools. Berkeley, California: Celestial
Arts, 1995.
Phillips, Roger. Mushrooms of North America. Toronto, Canada: Little,
Brown and Company,1991.

Song of the Season
--Zach Fishel (LHUP English Major)
April showers are often taken for
granted. They not only bring life to
the buds and blossoms we want to
see unfolding, but also they carry a
certain life. I find few things as
enjoyable as waking up before the
sun and walking through the fields
wrapped in the mist of yesterday.
Wearing my wool pea coat and
Donegal cap, I watch my warm
breath mingle with the lowered clouds around me. The water droplets collect
on my beard, as the sun rises over the mountains. I listen to the waking sounds
of the world; the steadily growing twitter of robins, the waking calls of crows,
and the seemingly growing landscape as it is uncovered by the sun.
As I sit on the porch watching the dry earth soak in an April shower, the
clapping thunderstorms sing praise to something much larger than I. There is
a sound in the storm, a music if you will. The marimba of tin roofs being
slammed with rain, the fluted song of wind racing through tree branches and
homesteads, and the thousands of harp-like strings of grass call me into their
song. The restless nature around me waiting to transition to summer and
fall. The time we have is short, and knowing this makes the difference on how
we will spend today. I think I need to take another walk through those ghost
clouds, and breath in the new life waiting to bring another season.
Looking for the Invisible
Green. Canasorgu No Easier to Find
--Harlan Berger ("A retired science
writer and Lock Haven Express columnist,
puzzled by what we do not know about
our local history")
East of Carroll, Pennsylvania, in Sugar
Valley, stands the Green’s Gap
monument. Before Route 80 intruded and
a gas station appeared at the Jersey Shore
exit, your view past the column into the
mountain gap named for the
frontiersman was pristine.
The monument marks the February 1801

massacre of Harry Green and four companions. They lived on the headwaters
of Cocolamus Creek in what is now Juniata County. Stock stealing and barn
burnings had got their back up. A moccasin find clued them to the likely
villains, and the captain and his “regulator” volunteers marched into Sugar
Valley and then close to what is now Farrandsville in their pursuit of a band of
Native Americans, who escaped by crossing the ice of the Susquehanna River.
Captain Green and his companions did not cross on the ice and returned much
fatigued to the gap, which was marked by a 7-foot-diameter, 270-foot-tall
white pine. They dined hastily and fell asleep, keeping no watch. They never
awoke. Stiff Arm George and his Senecas had followed them.
Years ago, the late Hugh Manchester of Bellefonte asked about the story. 1801
seemed late for Pennsylvania Indian massacres, the local historian thought.
But there is mention of an Indian raid in what is now Treaster Valley north of
Milroy, Pennsylvania, in 1795. And Stiff Arm George was a historical figure,
killing a white man in 1802 or 1803 in New York and either being hung for it or
getting excused on the guarantee that he’d leave the state. Accounts differ.
The notable Six Nations chief Red Jacket spoke for his colleague who was
drunk at the time of the murder. The white might have been, too. Scathing was
the chief’s denunciation of alcohol and the white’s use of this tool to debase
themselves and Indians.
A large question looms. No one at the Northumberland, Mifflin, Juniata, or
any other close-by county historical society has been able to locate Harry
Green. Nor has the Cocalamus postmistress who tapped local sources. One
source said he was from Milton. Nothing there either. "Captain" Green
suggests that he might have been a Revolutionary War veteran. Nothing found
there either but it appears that Harry was captain of the regulators.
“Regulator” was a term for locals who
banded together to administer justice as
they saw it.
A second Clinton County mystery arises
from another local monument, this one to
Canasorgu, “the ancient capital of the
Lenni Lenape.” This modest stone column
stands on Spook Hollow Road almost
under the McElhattan/Woolrich bridge in
Wayne Township (this section of the road
is part of the Mid-State Trail).
Reference books on Pennsylvania Indian
villages put a similarly named village

down river near Muncy. A village with a close spelling also existed in New
York.
But is it Canasorgu or Cansaerage? The latter was a former Shawnee village
near Muncy, according to George Donehoo in his “Indian Villages and Place
Names in Pennsylvania.” Native Americans did live near the McElhattan
Canasorgu monument. People have found artifacts near there. But this village
went by a different name according to another authority on Pennsylvania
Indian paths. On the face of it, “ancient capital of the Lenni Lenape” on the
monument is a howler. This was Iroquois and Susquehannock country long
before the Shawnees came and before Lenni Lenape displaced from Eastern
Pennsylvania drifted through. What background existed for such a claim?
Both monuments carry sponsor names of which one is Col. Henry Shoemaker
whose homestead was Restless Oaks, now a bed and breakfast and restaurant.
It is said he made up many of the legends he published. Perhaps, but these
stone records seem of sterner, more permanent stuff and bear the names of
other locals. Both carry dates before he became director of the Pennsylvania
Historical Commission, so some argue he made have had less reason for
accuracy in his early efforts. That aside, we have no primary sources for either
monument, other than the 1916 dedication booklet for the Harry Green
monument. And we wouldn’t have that if Chuck Sweeney of Sugar Valley
hadn’t seen a copy at a sale and bought it.
Collections of Shoemaker papers exist at Penn State’s Pattee Library and at
Juniata College. The last time I spoke with a Pattee librarian, the papers were
held in boxes and indexed only by date. That was two or three years ago. I do
not know how the Juniata College papers are cataloged. The Pattee papers
ought to be scanned into a relational database, and if not already done, the
Juniata College collection as well. That way we could search by topic, and we
might unearth clues to the local monuments.
Perhaps Simon Bronner, a Penn State professor of folk lore and American
Studies at the Harrisburg Campus, would have some suggestions as to where
to start such an investigation. His book, “Popularizing Pennsylvania: Henry
W. Shoemaker,” is a definitive study of this remarkable man.
At a Lock Haven Rotary club meeting some weeks ago, I spoke to Tara Fulton,
Dean of Library and Information Services at Lock Haven University, about the
Shoemaker papers. Perhaps there’s a match of interests here.
We may have work for interns. We may have work that ought to draw modest
financial support, research that ought to be worth a master’s degree or two.
New scholarship constantly sheds light on older claims, and these are worth

attention.
What is Eco-Feminism?
--Joan Whitman Hoff (LHUP Philosophy Professor)
Eco-feminism is an environmentalist view that has emerged rather
recently. The word was coined in the 1970s (who coined the word is subject to
debate), and represented a fusion of two different but overlapping
interests. One was feminism, which stressed the fact that nature, like woman,
was oppressed by male domination. The other interest from which ecofeminism emerged was deep ecology, which was developed by Arne
Naess. Deep ecology argued that anthropocentric and patriarchal attitudes
have led to the domination of nature. While there are some points about
which eco-feminists and deep ecologists disagree, literature on environmental
ethics suggests that eco-feminists are typically sympathetic to 'deep
ecology.' Both stress the importance of making fundamental changes in the
way people view nature and their relationship to it.
Even though views within feminism in
general vary widely, all of them stress the
equal value of women and need to oppose
their domination socially, politically,
economically, etc. While views within ecofeminism also vary, there are some commonly
held perspectives. Eco-feminists attempt to
explain the relationship between men and
women (and the domination of men over
women) by examining the relationship
between men and the environment, and viceversa. Moreover, as deep ecologists stress the
importance of changing man's attitude toward
the whole of nature, eco-feminists also stress
the importance of opposing the domination of all who are oppressed, not only
women. They stress the need to rethink the traditional dichotomy between
men and women, man and nature, which posits nature and woman as
inferior. Like deep ecologists, eco-feminists claim that the environment has
been exploited due to the anthropocentric views and behaviors of man. Such
attitudes have led to the use-and-abuse practices that have resulted in
environmental pollution, the destruction of rain forests, and other
environmental problems.
Another point stressed by eco-feminists is that the history of philosophy has
assumed that reason is linked to man, and nature is linked to women. Reason,
and those who are considered to be 'rational', are considered to have "soul,"

which manifests itself in a unique autonomous identity, while nature is
thought to be "soul-less" and thus not autonomous. Of course, those with
autonomy have reign over those "things" that do not. The "active'" soul of
man, therefore, is considered justified in taking what it wants from the
"passive" state of nature and molding it to its own will. So, nature, like
woman, has been viewed as passive, and both are molded and often
homogenized by the "aggressor." Thus, patriarchy objectifies women and the
environment, and the inherent value of women and nature is largely ignored.
Valerie Plumwood believes that "the oppression of women is linked to the
oppression of nature," and she argues that eco-feminism provides a new way
of understanding nature. Just as feminists stress the importance of
relationships in forming one's identity, eco-feminists stress the importance of
understanding human relationships with nature and the environment. In
viewing nature as "subject" in a relationship, humans can live with nature and
not simply in it. Plumwood claimed that we need to look at each other and
each thing with "a loving eye," thus making a connection to what is known as a
feminist ethic of care." Similarly, For Marilyn Frye the primary reason for
environmental problems is the dualistic attitude that links men with reason
and women with nature. The myth of human superiority, the myth of
dualism, has led to the destruction of not only the environment, but us. We
are killing ourselves and we don't even know it. Androcentric attitudes must
be replaced with more loving, peaceful practices, practices that do not view
women and nature as inferior. Carolyn Merchant agrees, and claims that we
need an alternative view of the world that stresses non-patriarchal forms of
spirituality and an ethic that replaces domination with care.
The eco-feminist view has not been completely embraced by
environmentalists. For example, some deep ecologists reject the basic ecofeminist premise that female has been equated to nature and that ending
women's oppression will save the environment. Sometimes, it is considered a
gynocentric view, which doesn't appear to be a good alternative for the
anthropocentric thinker. Of course, feminist views in general are resisted by
many, making it more difficult for the position of eco-feminists to be
heard. Nonetheless, eco-feminism is a view that is worth considering as it
requires us to consider our relationships with each other as humans as well as
our relationships with the environment, many of which revolve around the
objectification of the "other." An environmental ethic that values the integrity
of the whole and its parts, such as eco-feminism does, and encourages us to
think about the importance of consistency of actions and the importance of
caring about others and our planet. It encourages us to employ both reason
and sentiment to help foster a balance that is sorely needed. We can think; but,
perhaps, we must first care to think. The eco-feminists might help us to better
understand this.

For More Information see Marilyn Frye, Willful Virgin: Essays in Feminism,
1976-1992 (Crossing Press, 1993, and Louis J. Pojman. Global Environmental
Ethics, (McGraw-Hill, 1999).
Book Review: J. Baird Callicott and Michael P. Nelson eds. The Great New
Wilderness Debate (Univ. of Georgia Press, 1998), and The Wilderness Debate
Rages On (Univ. of Georgia Press, 2008).
--Bob Myers (LHUP English Professor)
In 1989 Ramachandra Guha challenged the imperialist
assumptions of deep ecology and suggested that the emphasis
on wilderness preservation by Western environmentalists
ignores more pressing issues of social equity. For Guha, seeing
environmental protection as identical to wilderness preservation
is a uniquely American perspective, and it ignores the serious
implications for the poor of third-world countries, who are
affected by the imperialism of the international conservation
elite.
Not surprisingly Guha's article immediately provoked responses from the
environmental community. Throughout the early 1990s environmentalists
argued the merits of the received wilderness idea, and in 1998 this discussion
was collected in the 700-page The Great New Wilderness Debate. That the issues
have not been settled is suggested by the publication last year of the 700-page
The Wilderness Debate Rages On.
The wilderness debate has centered around three issues. First, is the question
of whether nature is an independent entity, essentially different from human
culture. If nature is separate, then wilderness areas should be set aside to
protect them from inevitable human degradation. David M. Johns represents
the traditional view: "Humans compete for habitat with other species, threaten
their destruction, and otherwise degrade the environment, even diminishing
its human carrying capacity." However, if humans are seen as continuous
with nature, then the potential exists for beneficial human/wilderness
contact. J. Baird Callicott argues, "If man is a natural, a wild, an evolving
species . . . then the works of man, however precocious, are as natural as those
of beavers, or termites, or any of the other species that dramatically modify
their habitats. And if entirely natural, then the works of man, like those of
bees and beavers, in principle may be, even if now they are usually not,
beneficial . . . to the biotic communities which we inhabit" (350).

A second issue has been over the extent to which preColumbian North America was a true "virgin"
wilderness. William M. Denevan challenges "the
pristine myth," arguing that "scholarship has shown that
Indian populations in the Americas were substantial,
that the forests had indeed been altered, that landscape
change was commonplace" (415). Likewise, William
Cronon points out the irony of the forced displacement
of aboriginals from designated wilderness areas: "The
myth of the wilderness as 'virgin,' uninhabited land had
always been especially cruel when seen from the
perspective of the Indians who had once called that land
home. Now they were forced to move elsewhere, with the result that tourists
could safely enjoy the illusion that they were seeing their nation in its pristine,
original state" (482).
Perhaps the most heated issue in the wilderness debate has been the impact of
the concept of wilderness on the movement to preserve natural places--which
both sides agree desperately need to be protected. For William Cronon, the
real problem with wilderness is the cultural implications of making wilderness
preservation our primary focus. Cronon argues that if we continue to
dichotomize man and nature, civilization and wilderness, we will be less
likely to value and protect areas outside of designated areas, the places where
we actually live and spend the majority of our lives: "By imagining that our
true home is in the wilderness, we forgive ourselves the homes we actually
inhabit. In its flight from history, in its siren song of escape, in its reproduction
of the dangerous dualism that sets human beings outside of nature--in all of
these ways, wilderness poses a serious threat to responsible environmentalism
at the end of the twentieth century" (485). However, Ralston points out that
"affirming sustainable development is not to deny wilderness" (380), and
Waller challenges the basic assumption "that our overall efforts to protect the
environment represent a zero-sum game so that additional concern for one
area diminishes resources available to protect or restore other areas" (542). He
points out the danger of using a challenge to wilderness as a way of furthering
sustainability: "unfriendly critics of protecting wild lands will borrow
provocative arguments from these friendly critics to serve quite different ends"
(541).
I found most of the 1400 pages of this debate fascinating. The authors have
made me rethink the value of places that aren't necessarily "virgin"
wilderness. One of the articles referred to "rewilding," which is the process of
restoring the wildness to a place that has been transformed by human culture-Pennsylvania seems to be such a place. The wilderness argument is part of a
larger controversy between social constructionists, who see terms such as

"wilderness" and "nature" as products of culture, and essentialists, who insist
upon the fundamental reality of wild places. It seems to me that to recognize
that our views of wilderness have been socially conditioned does not deny the
reality of nature, anymore than recognizing the social construction of our
views of "women" denies the reality of women. Instead, such recognition
gives us the chance to examine the ways in which our constructions become
ideologies that control and shape the world--in this case, the ways in which
cultural views of wilderness shape our experience of the natural world.
Hike of the Month: The
Mid-State Trail to Round
Top
This hike takes you to the
top of another peak in Bald
Eagle Ridge, giving you a
great view of the
Susquehanna River
Valley. To get to the
trailhead, take Route 220
North four miles to the
McElhattan Drive Exit. At
the bottom of the ramp, turn
right, and then at next
intersection, take a left onto Pine/Mountain Road (toward Restless Oaks
Restaurant). Check your odometer--you're going to go exactly four miles on
this road to the trailhead. At 2.3 miles, you'll go through the town of Pine
Station, and at 2.7 miles you'll cross the railroad tracks for the second time. As
you're crossing, note the elaborate chimney to the right. According to Harlan
Berger, these are the remains of an oil line pumping station. Continue on
Pine/Mountain Road until you reach 4.0 miles. Park your car to the right (just
before the bridge over Love Run).
Walk up the road a few hundred yards until it bears sharply left--just before
this turn is a dirt road that descends to the right. Follow the road and cross the
stream. The trail immediately forks--bear to the right, and follow Yarn's
Run. The trail gradually climbs up the hollow, with several stream
crossings. After a few minutes another stream will come in from the left--stay
right on the Yarn's Run trail. After about a half mile, you will intersect the
Mid-State Trail, with its familiar orange blazes (see the February Hemlock's
Hike of the Month). A bit further up the trail are some ruins, but you want to
follow the MST to the right, crossing Yarn's run again.
Once on the MST, you begin to climb Round Top. The trail crosses a dirt road
and then switchbacks up the mountain. Once you reach the top (1750 feet

above sea level), continue to follow the MST until you reach a large talus field
with an excellent view of the Susquehanna River valley from Lock Haven (left)
to Jersey Shore (right). You've now hiked about 1.5 miles and have climbed
750 feet. Return the way you came--the total trip should take about 90
minutes. An alternative would be to drop a car on Pine/Loganton Road where
the MST crosses, and then follow the MST down the other side of Round Top.
Thanks to Doug Campbell, a former MST caretaker, for recommending this
hike, and to John Reid and Elizabeth Gruber for helping me explore it.
Environmental Focus Group
Bob Myers (chair), Md. Khalequzzaman, Lenny Long, Jeff Walsh, Danielle
Tolton, John Crossen, Sandra Barney, David White, Tom Ormond, and Ralph
Harnishfeger. The committee is charged with promoting and supporting
activities, experiences, and structures that encourage students, faculty, and
staff to develop a stronger sense of place for Lock Haven University and
central Pennsylvania. Such a sense of place involves a stewardship of natural
resources (environmentalism), meaningful outdoor experiences, and
appreciation for the heritage of the region.