Department or Program
Environmental Studies
Abstract
National Park Service Ideology is inherently based on the idea of "mission rivalry," that is, the conflict between conservation or preservation and use or enjoyment. Written into the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916 and stated in the National Park Service mission statement, these apparently contradictory mandates have produced a confused identity for the national parks. Apparent in National Park Service published "media" (brochures, manuals and pamphlets distributed at the parks), conflicts in park management have thus persisted since the conception of the national parks. Beginning primarily in the 1960s, author Edward Abbey questioned the primary motives of the National Park Service as they pertained to "Industrial Tourism," particularly in his well-known Desert Solitaire (1968). Abbey's literature can also be understood as "media" comparable to National Park Service "media," in that it communicates certain perceptions to the public. This thesis investigates how Abbey's "media" influenced change in National Park Service ideology, specific to the temporal space and historical context in which such changes took place.
Level of Access
Restricted: Campus/Bates Community Only Access
First Advisor
Tom Wenzel
Date of Graduation
5-2014
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Recommended Citation
Kaija, Gretchen Flora, "Edward Abbey’s Indirect Affect on National Park Service Ideology: Abbey’s Literature as “Media” in Parallel with National Park Service “Media”" (2014). Standard Theses. 32.
https://scarab.bates.edu/envr_studies_theses/32
Number of Pages
77
Components of Thesis
1 pdf file
Restricted
Available to Bates community via local IP address or Bates login.