zoe rodriguez
“Beauty is not optional. It is a strategy
for survival.”
in a modern debate over public land—crowded with political, economic, and ecological concerns—can anyone still argue that nature is worth defending simply because it’s beautiful? Terry Tempest Williams doesn’t hesitate. “Beauty is not optional. It is a strategy for survival.” As a writer, naturalist, and educator, Williams has spent her
career advocating for the land. Her dreamy, lyrical prose in- vites readers into her explorations of the natural and cultural legacies of the American West—challenging perceptions of some of our most storied landscapes. She’s been called the “natural heir” to Wallace Stegner. Williams’s latest book is The Hour of Land: a Personal
Topography of America’s National Parks. It’s a 12-stop tour of our national parks, from the iconic (Wyoming’s Grand Tetons) to the obscure (Iowa’s Effigy Mounds)—a mix of field notes, letters, casual conversations, and poems capturing the diver- sity and complexity of the places the American people have chosen to save. As the Park Service marks its centennial year, The Hour of Land is a timely reflection on the relevance and significance of our public lands. “I thought I was writing a book about America’s national
parks,” Williams told us. “But it became clear very quickly that I was actually writing a book about America. And this was a daunting task.”
You’ve spent time in beautiful places all over the country. Why did you choose to write this book about national parks in particular?
Our national parks embody the soul of the nation. At a time when public lands are under siege—with some politicians calling for “the disposal of federal lands”—national parks are the most accessible gateway into the conversation. Many people may not understand what our public lands represent, but if something changes you say, specifically, “Imagine what America would be without the national parks.” They under- stand what we would be left with would be a self-made world devoid of our natural heritage.
You write that national parks provide “breathing space for a society that’s holding its breath.” What do you mean by that?
An example: I was in Washington, D.C.—suffocating in the humidity of summer and saturated by the politics of the place. Then a friend offered to take me to Great Falls National Park, in McLean, Virginia, 15 miles from the capital. When I walked to the overlooks and saw the magnificent, cascading waters of the Potomac River being funneled through Mather Gorge— well, I gasped. The impact on me in that moment was equal to when I first saw Yosemite Valley. I couldn’t take my eyes off of
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