---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wilderness, like the national park…"
description: "\"Wilderness, like the national park system, was an American idea.\" — Stewart Udall"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png"
---

#  Wilderness, like the national park system, was an American…

![“Wilderness, like the national park system, was an American idea.” quote by Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png)

> “Wilderness, like the national park system, was an American idea.”

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The concept of wilderness is a cultural construct rooted in American values and conservation ideals.

**In simple terms:** Wilderness is an American cultural idea.

Key Takeaway

Acknowledge cultural origins of environmental values.

Themes

conservation American identity nature

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

philosophical educational

When to use this quote

- policy making
- education
- public discourse

Key Concepts

environmental ethics cultural constructs

Questions to Reflect On

- How does this view shape policy?
- What other cultures view wilderness.

A Different Perspective

Nature is also valued differently worldwide.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[American](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american/) [American Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-idea-258324/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [National](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national/) [National park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national-park/) [National parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national-parks/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Park American](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/park-american-258325/) [Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parks/) [System](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/system/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [Wilderness Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness-like-258323/)

## Related quotes

> [The National Park Service today exemplifies one of the highest traditions of public service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/the-national-park-service-today-exemplifies-one-of-the-highest/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [I think, too, that we've got to recognize that where the preservation of a natural resource like the redwoods is concerned, that there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-think-too-that-we-ve-got-to-recognize-that-where-the-preservation/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

> [Although biodiversity loss continues globally, many countries are significantly slowing the rate of loss by shoring up protected natural areas and the services they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-clark/although-biodiversity-loss-continues-globally-many-countries-are/)

[Helen Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-clark/)

> [In Yellowstone National Park there are more ‘do not feed the animals’ signs than there are animals you might wish to feed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-jeremijenko/in-yellowstone-national-park-there-are-more-do-not-feed-the-animals/)

[Natalie Jeremijenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-jeremijenko/)

> [“The beauty was just mind-boggling for this English girl...It was like being in your own national park, but without the signs telling you what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-orenstein/the-beauty-was-just-mind-boggling-for-this-english-girl-it-was-like/)

[Peggy Orenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-orenstein/)

> [If you drive to, say, Shenandoah National Park, or the Great Smoky Mountains, you'll get some appreciation for the scale and beauty of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-drive-to-say-shenandoah-national-park-or-the-great-smoky/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [I do have spare time and I love to read, and I love just to go to a national park and just relax and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-pugh/i-do-have-spare-time-and-i-love-to-read-and-i-love-just-to-go-to-a/)

[Lewis Pugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-pugh/)

> [The national park idea has been nurtured by each succeeding generation of Americans. Today, across our land, the National Park System represents America at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-b-hartzog-jr/the-national-park-idea-has-been-nurtured-by-each-succeeding/)

[George B. Hartzog Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-b-hartzog-jr/)

> [If you're Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya, if you're in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, you don't get out of your vehicle and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/if-you-re-maasai-mara-national-park-in-kenya-if-you-re-in-serengeti/)

[David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/)

> [It's the one species I wouldn't mind seeing vanish from the face of the earth. I wish they were like the White Rhinosix of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/it-s-the-one-species-i-wouldn-t-mind-seeing-vanish-from-the-face-of/)

[Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/)

> [The National Park Service shot a mule in the face. He survived but had trouble swallowing and often food came out of his nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/the-national-park-service-shot-a-mule-in-the-face-he-survived-but-had/)

[Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/)

> [...Skyscraper National Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/skyscraper-national-park/)

[Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/)

> [I got to Africa. I got the opportunity to go and learn, not about any animal, but chimpanzees. I was living in my dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/i-got-to-africa-i-got-the-opportunity-to-go-and-learn-not-about-any/)

[Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/)

> [On the lip of the Grand Canyon. I've always wanted to do that. My very first TV special out of the Olympics was on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-boitano/on-the-lip-of-the-grand-canyon-i-ve-always-wanted-to-do-that-my-very/)

[Brian Boitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-boitano/)

> [The national park is the best idea America ever had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryce/the-national-park-is-the-best-idea-america-ever-had/)

[James Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryce/)

## More by Stewart Udall

> [I like the story about Henry David Thoreau, who, when he was on his death bed, his family sent for a minister. The minister…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/i-like-the-story-about-henry-david-thoreau-who-when-he-was-on-his/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [The most common trait of all primitive peoples is a reverence for the life-giving earth, and the Native American shared this elemental ethic: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/the-most-common-trait-of-all-primitive-peoples-is-a-reverence-for-the/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [The atomic weapons race and the secrecy surrounding it crushed American democracy. It induced us to conduct government according to lies. It distorted justice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/the-atomic-weapons-race-and-the-secrecy-surrounding-it-crushed/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [Nature will take precedence over the needs of the modern man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/nature-will-take-precedence-over-the-needs-of-the-modern-man/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [In a region with a growing population, if you're doing nothing, you're losing ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/in-a-region-with-a-growing-population-if-you-re-doing-nothing-you-re/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [A limit on the automobile population of the United States would be the best of news for our cities. The end of automania would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/a-limit-on-the-automobile-population-of-the-united-states-would-be/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [We have, I fear, confused power with greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/we-have-i-fear-confused-power-with-greatness/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [Lady Bird Johnson did more than plant flowers in public places. She served the country superbly by planting environmental values in the minds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/lady-bird-johnson-did-more-than-plant-flowers-in-public-places-she/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [I don't remember a big fight between the Republicans and Democrats in the Nixon administration or President Gerald Ford and so on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/i-don-t-remember-a-big-fight-between-the-republicans-and-democrats-in/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [The most common trait of all primitive peoples is a reverence for the life-giving earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/the-most-common-trait-of-all-primitive-peoples-is-a-reverence-for-the-2/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/plans-to-protect-air-and-water-wilderness-and-wildlife-are-in-fact/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [Cherish sunsets, wild creatures, and wild places. Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/cherish-sunsets-wild-creatures-and-wild-places-have-a-love-affair/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [It induced us to conduct government according to lies. It distorted justice. It undermined American morality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/it-induced-us-to-conduct-government-according-to-lies-it-distorted/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [America today stands poised on a pinnacle of wealth and power, yet we live in a land of vanishing beauty, of increasing ugliness, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/america-today-stands-poised-on-a-pinnacle-of-wealth-and-power-yet-we/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

> [Over the long haul of life on this planet, it is the ecologists, and not the bookkeepers of business, who are the ultimate accountants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/over-the-long-haul-of-life-on-this-planet-it-is-the-ecologists-and/)

[Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

[Explore all 56 Stewart Udall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/)

## More American quotes

> [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/)

[Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/)

> [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/)

[Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/)

> [I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp names that never get fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-american-names-the-sharp-names-that-never/)

[Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/)

> [I really like a lot of American country stuff, so my music has that influence, but I don't like to be set within a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-bird/i-really-like-a-lot-of-american-country-stuff-so-my-music-has-that/)

[Jade Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-bird/)

> [I certainly don't think that the heirs of the American Revolution were a particularly noble class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/i-certainly-don-t-think-that-the-heirs-of-the-american-revolution/)

[H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/)

> [Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in a tremendous investment to support millions of workers without a paycheck and behind on bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-auchincloss/congress-passed-the-american-rescue-plan-act-in-a-tremendous/)

[Jake Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-auchincloss/)

> [Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and employ almost half of the working population. Yet because of their size, they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-lipinski/small-businesses-are-the-backbone-of-the-american-economy-and-employ/)

[Dan Lipinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-lipinski/)

> [Although I write in English, and despite the fact that I'm from America, I consider myself an Armenian writer. The words I use are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/although-i-write-in-english-and-despite-the-fact-that-i-m-from/)

[William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/)

> [When we first sold the Wallace and Gromit shorts to America, people suggested we get rid of the strange British accents and put clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-park/when-we-first-sold-the-wallace-and-gromit-shorts-to-america-people/)

[Nick Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-park/)

> [Firefighters and rescue workers are American superheroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/firefighters-and-rescue-workers-are-american-superheroes/)

[Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/)

> [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/)

[Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/)

> [New York and San Francisco are distinctly different. San Francisco is driving the American media, not New York. You have young, microwaved millionaires and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-whitlock/new-york-and-san-francisco-are-distinctly-different-san-francisco-is/)

[Jason Whitlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-whitlock/)

> [Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. We have to take risks and it's important that we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-panetta/well-look-cia-is-an-agency-that-has-to-collect-intelligence-do/)

[Leon Panetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-panetta/)

> [Food as a hobby used to be an elite pastime, and it has become something that is totally ordinary for people of every background.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/food-as-a-hobby-used-to-be-an-elite-pastime-and-it-has-become/)

[Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/)

> [It's important for American soldiers to be culturally sensitive when deployed in foreign countries. But it's just as important for the U.S. never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/it-s-important-for-american-soldiers-to-be-culturally-sensitive-when/)

[Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/)

[Browse all 7,717 American quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Wilderness, like the national park system, was an American idea.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Stewart Udall"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/wilderness-like-the-national-park-system-was-an-american-idea/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "American"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/wilderness-like-the-national-park-system-was-an-american-idea/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/stewart-udall-12055_american_wilderness-like-the-national-park-system_2429128.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Wilderness, like the national park system, was an American idea.” — Stewart Udall",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Stewart Udall",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Wilderness, like the national park system,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/wilderness-like-the-national-park-system-was-an-american-idea/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/wilderness-like-the-national-park-system-was-an-american-idea/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
