AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Jesse M. Engebretson for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Ecosystems and Society presented on December 7th, 2017 Title: Making Sense of the Wilderness Experience in the United States: A Multidisciplinary Approach Abstract approved: ______________________________________________________ Troy E. Hall Federally designated wilderness areas in the United States are uniquely required to provide opportunities for particular types of recreational experiences. According to the Wilderness Act of 1964, the law that governs the management of designated wilderness in the U.S., wilderness areas are to provide “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.” The meaning of this phrase is debated, and land managers today have little guidance – in the form of standards and guidelines – to preserve this experiential aspect of wilderness character. The contention over this phrase prompts two questions that will be addressed in this dissertation: (1) what was the original intent of the phrase? and (2) how do contemporary federal land management personnel understand and implement it on the ground? In chapter two, I addressed how the phrase “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation” was historically understood by actors essential to the passage of the Wilderness Act. To do this, I used document analysis as a research method. My results suggest that wilderness proponents felt that “solitude” and “primitive and unconfined” were distinct. Further, they felt that the human sensory experience and directly experiencing nature in large and/or remote areas were essential components of wilderness “solitude.” Primitive was understood as referring to modes of unmechanized travel that were considered permissible in wilderness. Unconfined, while not prominently discussed, likely referred to the unregulated nature of the wilderness experience. In chapter three, I explored the on-the-ground management of solitude across the USFS. I used street-level bureaucracy (SLB) as a conceptual framework in this study, which attuned the decisions and actions of low-level workers and their foundational role in producing and performing policy. My primary research objective was to build upon SLB by studying a novel population that was unique from most other research in SLB scholarship. For the study, I conducted qualitative interviews of 33 wilderness managers across all regions of the USFS. The results of this study suggest that wilderness managers are similar in many ways to the street-level workers traditionally studied in SLB. However, managers were also unique in ways pertinent the development of a more robust SLB framework. First, managers lacked data and an inability to engage with existing empirical research, which constrains their ability to effectively do their job. This is a unique constraint compared to other types of street-level workers studied in SLB. Second, because wilderness managers, as opposed to other workers traditionally studied in SLB, are responsible for the stewardship of a natural resource, I suggest that it may be essential to consider how their decisions and actions are oriented towards biophysical and social values of the resource rather than their perceptions of public preferences towards the use of that resource. Wilderness and the wilderness experience, however, are more than just legal constructs. Some have critiqued the wilderness idea as ethnocentric, unscientific, ahistorical, classist, and physically ableist. Representations of wilderness may be seen as understood by certain – and often marginalized – groups as exclusionary. At the same time, members of the wilderness management community are calling for greater representation and diversity wilderness recreation. In the chapter four, I investigated representations of the wilderness experience through a disability studies lens to contribute eco-crip scholarship. I conducted a thematic narrative analysis of 60 place-based wilderness narratives published in the Wilderness Society’s periodical The Living Wilderness. My results suggest that the authors of wilderness narratives discursively constructed the experience of the city and its manifestations as unnatural, abnormal, and inauthentic. The wilderness experience, conversely, was constructed as natural, normal, and authentic. Given this, urbanity and its related elements were ultimately prescribed as bad, while wilderness was prescribed as good. In my fifth and concluding chapter, I summarized the main findings from each study and provided recommendations for land managers based on my findings. ©Copyright by Jesse M. Engebretson December 7th, 2017 All Rights Reserved Making Sense of the Wilderness Experience in the United States: A Multidisciplinary Approach by Jesse M. Engebretson A DISSERTATION submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented December 7, 2017 Commencement June 2018 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation of Jesse M. Engebretson presented on December 7th, 2017 APPROVED: Major Professor, representing Forest Ecosystems and Society Head of the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my dissertation will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my dissertation to any reader upon request. Jesse M. Engebretson, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My most sincere gratitude extends to Dr. Troy Hall. For almost six years, she has been a friend, mentor, and an advisor. I owe virtually all of my experiences that I gained throughout graduate school to her. Over the years, her dedication has led to my professional, personal, and scholarly growth. Her clear-eyed analytical insight, voracious curiosity, and her approachable demeanor are qualities that I hope to exemplify as I develop professionally. I also value her appreciation of high-quality coffee on backpacking trips into the wilderness. Thank you to my committee members as well. Dr. Jacob Hamblin provided inspiration for my research, but also included me, a College of Forestry student, in various history and humanities related activities. He always invited me to the Cascadia Environmental History Retreat and to present at campus conferences related to the environmental humanities. It was from these experiences that the genesis of my disability studies approach in chapter four evolved. Dr. Michael Nelson has significantly influenced much of my research interests through his own publications. His book with J. Baird Callicott – The Great New Wilderness Debate – had perhaps the most significant impact on me as a master’s student than any other book. It introduced me to critiques of the received wilderness idea. Although I have never told him this, it was this book that planted a wilderness seed and is likely the reason why I pursued studies in wilderness. Through this book, I began to think more critically about humans, nature, and humans’ role in nature. Dr. Peter Landres told me to run with my ideas and have faith that dedication, hard work, and curiosity would lead to good things. It goes without saying that Dr. Landres’ guidance in the wilderness management community and his foundational work on wilderness character are invaluable. Additional thanks go to Dr. Cass Dykeman. As a Graduate Council Representative, he has gone above and beyond. His obvious curiosity and his support are inspirational. Another important mentor in my graduate career was Dr. Michael O’Rourke of Michigan State University. As a principal investigator on a National Science Foundation Project – Values and Responsibility in Interdisciplinary Environmental Science – that funded much of my PhD, he was always supportive of my interests, provided insightful guidance, and facilitated my own personal dedication to ethics and environmental education. While in graduate school, I had the great opportunity to work on projects with both the National Park Service and the United States Forest Service. I want to especially thank my mentor Don Swann at Saguaro National Park. His energy and intelligence continue to inspire me and his approach to fathering his children has been hugely inspirational for me. Also, I want to thank Tyson Cross and Dylan McCoy at the Willamette National Forest. Their dedication to wilderness stewardship and the seriousness with which they, as public servants, approach their jobs has motivated me in unconveyable ways. Much thanks also to Jason Fisher at the Deschutes National Forest for mulling over my findings with me. I am also grateful for those who helped in my research. I also thank Steve Boucher, the former the USFS National Information Manager for Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers, for providing me with a list of wilderness data stewards that was essential for my research. Also, a huge thank you to the staff at the Denver Public Library’s Genealogy, African American, and Western History Resources Library and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. I am immensely grateful for your assistance on procuring archival materials for this research. I also express deep gratitude to Dr. Michael Musheno. His guidance and patience were instrumental in the development of this research. During my time as a graduate student, I have been fortunate to meet some of the most amazing and interesting people of my life. Many thanks to Zach, Chelsea, Tyson, Chad,