Wild Nature as Seen Through the Landscape Prism of Tremblant, Quebec: An Examination of the Representation and Practices Associated with Wilderness
Wilderness encompasses a particular relationship with nature, characterized by specific cultural representations and practices that both express the critical contemporary values of western society and exert significant influences on environmentalism. It is also the vector of a powerful myth built on the immensity of untouched nature in the nineteenth century, as illustrated by the northern forests of Canada’s Laurentian Shield. In this setting, wilderness is endowed with different figures of landscape identity – from a National Park to modest lakeshore cabins, and to an intensively exploited recreational resort. The divergence or complimentarity of these figures, each deriving from this myth, are present within the immediate region of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. These types of wilderness settings are examined with regard to how they are represented and managed, thereby permitting us to better circumscribe the idea of wilderness and to better understand its potential and operational utility in relation to conservation and sustainable use.