edited by Claire Elizabeth Campbell
University of Calgary Press, Calgary, 2011
458 pp., illus., $34.95, paperback
A double review with Manufacturing National Park Nature
by J. Keri Cronin
UBC Press, Vancouver, 2011
228 pp., illus., $29.95 paperback
The number of books inspired by Parks Canada’s centennial has resulted in the cutting down of quite a few trees, but A Century of Parks Canada, 1911–2011 was probably worth the sacrifice. It contains fourteen thought-provoking essays by environmental historians. As editor Claire Elizabeth Campbell points out, histories of Canada’s parks system are sparse and mostly celebratory. These essays attempt to correct that by tackling some crunchy issues.
For instance, Ben Bradley reminds us that parks sometimes founder. Hamber Park, an enormous provincial park in British Columbia from 1941 to 1961, was eventually reopened to development after governments lost interest in it. And Bill Waiser takes the “shack tent” controversy of Prince Albert National Park as an example of local park users clashing bitterly with Ottawa over park regulations.
George Colpitts, meanwhile, documents how the black bear evolved from a cute roadside attraction to a cranky menace that park wardens were forced to shoot in large numbers, thanks to people’s irresistible urge to feed them.
In her introduction, Campbell points out that the writers are citizens as well as scholars — “we write about these places because we care about them.” As environmental historians, the contributors are pioneers in an emerging field of study; their sense of excitement at breaking new ground shines through.
In Manufacturing National Park Nature, author J. Keri Cronin raises important points about how images of nature in national parks — through photographs, postcards, posters, films, and other media — have been contrived. Nature within park boundaries is presented as untrammelled, pristine, untouched, and wild. Yet the reality of parks such as Jasper and Banff is that they are intensely managed, overrun with millions of visitors, and overlaid with busy highways, resorts, and golf courses.
Cronin, an assistant professor of visual arts at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, demonstrates that images of national parks have been manipulated from day one of their creation. For instance, some nineteenth-century photographers altered the environment by cutting down trees and rearranging boulders in order to create a pleasing scene. When humans were part of the photograph — playing golf within majestic mountain scenery, enjoying the view from their cars, or even feeding the bears — their activities were viewed as harmless to the “pristine” environment.
Cronin argues that this nineteenth-century mythology of “untrammelled” wilderness persists today and is “ultimately unproductive in terms of environmental dialogue.” Unfortunately, the writing gets a little fuzzy when explaining the consequences of perpetuating this myth — more clarity on this important point would have been helpful.
— Nelle Oosterom (Read bio)
Nelle Oosterom is the Senior Editor of Canada's History magazine.