Response #5 - Sally Volkmann

“Like ions shot from the sun, the week-enders radiate from every town, generating heat and friction as they go” (Leopold 165).

In this quote Leopold talks about how human recreation has become a danger to the environment because of our forms of transportation. The amount of roads grew with the amount of car owners. The roads made the wilderness more accessible and tainted it. I related this idea of traveling and depleting the environment as we move to the idea of hunters and gathers (Trumpey 2009). From Trumpey’s lectures he has defined hunters and gatherers by the way they prey on many species and are always on the move. As “week-enders” they are part time hunter and gatherers; they travel to another place once they have depleted something from their permanent residence. This depletion may not necessarily be natural resources or a food supply like traditional hunters and gatherers. Instead “week-enders” living in an urban environment may have depleted the fun, adventure, spontaneity, simplicity, fresh air, and wild vegetation from their lives.

The “week-enders” generate heat by all the carbon they are emitting; their carbon footprint creates a denser cloud coverage which traps the sun’s rays in our atmosphere (Trumpey 2009). I thought it was interesting how Trumpey pointed out how there was a drop in the USA’s temperature when the air traffic was restricted after 9/11. The friction the “week-enders” create is on a social level which I can relate to.

My Dad and Brother are “week-enders” during any hunting season. They can be considered modern hunters because they hunt with semi-automatic weapons and spend obscene amounts of money on clothing and devices to help keep them warm in their blinds. We live in a very urban city with strict gun laws and very few wild animals. The urban sprawl of Saginaw has depleted the prey that the men in my family seek to hunt. They are “week-enders” who create a friction on the highways that head north, on the local ecosystem of northern Michigan, and of the surrounding community where they hunt. They appropriate a segment of land and the animal population for ingestion every hunting season (Trumpey 2009). The main goal is to harvest the animals for consumption. I really related to Leopold’s observation of the hunters around his duck marsh about the trigger happy hunters; “that he is already overfed in no way dampens his avidity for gathering his meat from God” (Leopold 166). I agree with Leopold and always make sure to point out the heaps of venison still sitting in the outside freezer as my Dad and Brother pack the car full of their consumer goods to go bring back more food that will go un-consumed.

The idea that the people are what moves can parallel to the migration of the animals that the hunter and gatherers deplete. Some people do migrate in a sense. There are the “snow birds” and waves of college kids and families flock to warmer climates during the “tourist season.” A few spring breaks ago I was in South Carolina during the end of tourist season and was talking with a few locals. The guys were relishing and reflecting on their experience during tourist season. Since it was on a beach they had preyed on girls to hook up with. Knowing that they’d be leaving in a week or two so they wouldn’t have to deal with any of the commitment or consequences of a relationship. It sounded like the locals were equating the other girls to prey. Perhaps the locals were locals of vacation places are more like part time pastoralists because they prey on fewer species (not all people go on vacation to beaches) and are stationary (the “prey” comes to them every spring). The locals are consuming these tourists eagerly and then throwing them away with out much thought as the new flock rolls in. While I’m sure there are nice local girls these boys could date and get to know they too are like overfed hunters who are more into “recreation” for the thrill and adventure of seeing something new.

Citation:
Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1949.

Trumpey, Joseph. Art Design Perspective 3: Technology and the Environment. Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. 5 and 7 Oct 2009. Lecture.