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<p>Information and communication technologies (ICT) are growing rapidly in their reach and power, penetrating into the heart of wilderness, and eroding and redefining it in the process. This is occurring, by, for instance, the undermining of remoteness by globally interconnected communications and information exchange, increasing ease of travel through navigation technologies, mediating experiences of nature though augmented reality, undermining solitude and freedom through surveillance, and increasing human power over wild places though tools of wildlife conservation, such as radio collars. Wilderness, whether formally designated or not, has two primary values: ecological and moral-experiential—the latter sometimes termed social, subjective, or perceptual. ICT threatens both values in fundamental ways. It threatens the moral-experiential value of wilderness by morally commodifying wilderness—converting it into a seamlessly available commodity delivered by devices. Digital technologies threaten the ecological value of wilderness primarily by tipping the scales away from untrammeledness in subtle and powerful ways that may escape notice by wilderness managers and scientists. First, by <i>procuring</i> technological information that forms the epistemic basis for technical control—enabling. And second, by <i>presenting</i> the world as a technical system open to technical intervention—normalizing. While this argument is centered on U.S. conservation policy, its implications are global. Just as wilderness grows in importance in international contexts with increased development, so too does the need for respite from the increasing global ubiquity of ICT and the need for areas deliberately set aside from human control. Thus, ultimately the importance of a DWA goes beyond simple land preservation to address the place of technology in human and nonhuman life. In the U.S. context, the Wilderness Act preserves areas without mechanization, roads, and structures. However, it fails to account for digital technologies, which have emerged since its inception. This paper will argue that this is a problem profound enough to call for a second Wilderness Act: A Digital Wilderness Act (DWA). This act would primarily restrict certain forms of information and ICT from designated areas and perhaps also detailed online information.</p>

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The need for a Digital Wilderness Act

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月5日

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  • Chris Dunn

摘要

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are growing rapidly in their reach and power, penetrating into the heart of wilderness, and eroding and redefining it in the process. This is occurring, by, for instance, the undermining of remoteness by globally interconnected communications and information exchange, increasing ease of travel through navigation technologies, mediating experiences of nature though augmented reality, undermining solitude and freedom through surveillance, and increasing human power over wild places though tools of wildlife conservation, such as radio collars. Wilderness, whether formally designated or not, has two primary values: ecological and moral-experiential—the latter sometimes termed social, subjective, or perceptual. ICT threatens both values in fundamental ways. It threatens the moral-experiential value of wilderness by morally commodifying wilderness—converting it into a seamlessly available commodity delivered by devices. Digital technologies threaten the ecological value of wilderness primarily by tipping the scales away from untrammeledness in subtle and powerful ways that may escape notice by wilderness managers and scientists. First, by procuring technological information that forms the epistemic basis for technical control—enabling. And second, by presenting the world as a technical system open to technical intervention—normalizing. While this argument is centered on U.S. conservation policy, its implications are global. Just as wilderness grows in importance in international contexts with increased development, so too does the need for respite from the increasing global ubiquity of ICT and the need for areas deliberately set aside from human control. Thus, ultimately the importance of a DWA goes beyond simple land preservation to address the place of technology in human and nonhuman life. In the U.S. context, the Wilderness Act preserves areas without mechanization, roads, and structures. However, it fails to account for digital technologies, which have emerged since its inception. This paper will argue that this is a problem profound enough to call for a second Wilderness Act: A Digital Wilderness Act (DWA). This act would primarily restrict certain forms of information and ICT from designated areas and perhaps also detailed online information.