The comparison of my trip experience and the book information
I have my goal to discuss what I have learned during my trip experience to Tilden Park in the Bay Area and compare my experience with the information from the book Moving Outdoors: Parks for the People. In The Country in the City by Richard Walker in the following paper.
First of all, I should say that when I only arrived at the park, I remembered all the fascinating descriptions of the Bay Area and the Tilden Park in particular revealed by Richard Walker. A flow of thoughts came to my mind as I saw the professor’s description of the beauty of this place in reality. I also thought about numerous efforts made by wealthy people, politicians, and Indians to preserve the nature of the reservation. They had to protect this area from the growth of cities to achieve this result. There is no doubt, and I completely agree with the professor that the Bay Area is one of the best places on Earth and this great status is achieved using the endless efforts of thousands of people.
I was deeply impressed with everything I saw there and the wildlife in particular. A mixture of native and imported plants was not preserved but also enriched with other exotic greenery. Today, it includes eucalyptus forests, oak woodlands, and grasslands. I loved the shade of Eucalyptus and Redwood groves and remembered how the professor explained in his book that preserving the trees was a great task that required a lot of hard work (Walker 74). While reading the book, I felt the special atmosphere of the place and created a unique image of the park in my mind. When I saw the San Francisco Bay Area on my own, I was not disappointed, quite the contrary, all those memories helped me to enlarge my appreciativeness.
As I approached the Indian Camp Gate, I thought about the Indian’s contribution to the preservation of the Bay Area environment described by the Professor who stated that Indians were special people who had special “relations” with nature. I got added evidence that it was true. I agreed with professor Walker when he explains how important the role of Indians was in the history of the Bay Area (95). I also think that his idea to preserve Indian reservations as a means to save the environment is very effective.
I also visited historic Little Farm and saw its animals, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, and chickens. I found out that some historical breeds were still reared here, for example, Milking Shorthorn Cattle. What a great feeling a person experiences when he/she sees such a place after being in the modern developed city. The contrast is immense and it reminded me of what Richard Walker told about the farmers’ significant role in preserving the nature of this area (37, 112).
In Tilden Park, everything is done for people to enjoy their lives outside the city, in the wilderness, and I agree with Walker that the result has been achieved only because people were motivated to do so for themselves. As I was walking through the park, I saw the trails to be well marked, joggers and bicyclists to enjoy their time, children playing near the water. I was greatly amazed at the fact that all these were possible through the park was located next to a modern sophisticated urban center. In his book, Walker showed how this park succeeded to become such a beautiful place and its strong connection with the history of conservation and the environmental movement nationwide and even worldwide.
My conclusions after the visit to Tilden Park and reading the book by Richard Walker “Moving Outdoors: Parks for the People. In The Country in the City”
Miller stated about Richard Walker’s position as to the role of the Bay Area in the book The Country in the City, “Bay Area environmentalism has been a player in this expansion to the wider world, promoting the green gospel internationally as it once did across the United States” (Miller 1). When I was hiking through the Tilden Park, every single thing and every single plant and animal were telling me their ”stories” about the importance of protecting nature and improving what we have. This valuable experience of protecting nature for the people’s well-being should be applied by politicians and all the people who care about the environment we live in both in the United States and the world. How many wonderful places on Earth offer people to enjoy their lives there, but first, they are to be saved!
In conclusion, I would like to add that I am pleased with this trip and will remember this wonderful vacation forever as the experience to understand how important the preservation of the wonderful world we live in and its nature is. This trip experience with the precious information I have learned from Professor Richard Walker’s book Moving Outdoors: Parks for the People. In The Country in the City also helped me to see how important the task of saving nature is. In addition, this trip experience helped me to see the answer to my personal question about the possibility of preserving nature around urban territories. I have thought that such preservation was possible, but the example of the Bay Area proved that it just required the combined efforts of all the people.
Works Cited
- Miller, Ryder W. “Review: The Country in the City by Richard A. Walker.” Rev. of Moving Outdoors: Parks for the People. In The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area by Richard Walker. Electronic Green Journal 1.26 (2008): n. pag. Web. 2011.
- Walker, Richard. Moving Outdoors: Parks for the People. In The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007. Print.