The Left Hand of Eden

by William Ashworth

The Left Hand of Eden contributes to the growing, often contentious debate on wilderness and forest practices, but does so from an unusual perspective - that of an environmentalist advocating abandonment of wilderness preservation. Ashworth argues that wilderness preservation is a form of separation from the land and, as such, is as harmful to nature as logging or mining. Treating nature as something "other" - whether to preserve it or destroy it - creates a false dichotomy, from which all modern environmental battles arise: use versus preservation, civilization versus wilderness. Ashworth presents his ideas in a series of linked nature essays. In these writings he shows that proper care for the land requires not just use or reverence, but use with reverence.