Understanding Nature & Ecology

As the twentieth century draws to a close, Americans are still battling the vestiges of nineteenth century doctrine, the aftermath of the politics of Manifest Destiny and the lingering effects of the pioneer mentality which forged the way west. In her illuminating essay, "Empire of Innocence" Limerick suggests that "the figure of the innocent victim is the dominant motif" characterizing the American experience of western expansion (Columbo 570). Rather than viewing themselves as destructive forces who ravaged the land, the pioneers and contemporary Americans prefer to see themselves as tricked by hostile nature which does not co-operate with expansionist dreams. Limerick asserts that "when Nature behaved according to its own rules and not" those of the pioneers, they felt betrayed (Columbo 566). Comprehending that nature is not always to be mastered, that sometimes it demands submission, is the lesson which Americans are still struggling to learn.

Attempts to import inappropriate vegetation underscore this tension between civilization and the wilderness. In 1859 Thomas Austin feeling homesick for England let loose 24 rabbits into the Australian outback with devastating effect. Within a scant ten years these rabbits had multiplied into the millions per stretch of property. Without predators to keep their numbers low, these rabbits ate away their new country's native shrubbery. Their destruction had a d