The modern environmentalism movement in the US started when people realized that the last old growth in America (California’s Redwoods) was about to be cut down. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that nobody’s ever seen “nature”, but they definitely haven’t seen what the indigenous people and first couple generations of settlers got to see.
There’s some debate about the level of land management done by native Americans as well. The forests of New England weren’t perfectly suited for deer and berries naturally, it required regular controlled (and sometimes uncontrolled) burns by the local population. America’s a big place though, and the degree of environmental change varies by location.
By that logic nobody on the east coast has ever seen a real tree because the fucking capitalists destroyed all the forests
honestly I kind of unironically believe this. not just for the east coast or whatever but most people have not seen nature, ever
The modern environmentalism movement in the US started when people realized that the last old growth in America (California’s Redwoods) was about to be cut down. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that nobody’s ever seen “nature”, but they definitely haven’t seen what the indigenous people and first couple generations of settlers got to see.
There’s some debate about the level of land management done by native Americans as well. The forests of New England weren’t perfectly suited for deer and berries naturally, it required regular controlled (and sometimes uncontrolled) burns by the local population. America’s a big place though, and the degree of environmental change varies by location.
Closest you can probably get in the continental US is hiking in the Rocky Mountains which I would highly recommend.
Being hours away from anyone else without cell service is really refreshing.