“If there can be said to be a theme running throughout the history of American art, music, and literature, it might well be the allure, the danger, and the quiet beauty of the wilderness. “Scads of crucial American stories and images feast on the idea of wilderness, of a place apart from the so-called civilized world, of a pristine region that can rejuvenate a jaded soul.” So it’s little wonder that, when wilderness and the environment become political issues, there are considerable artistic and literary overtones to the debate.