Launch Post -- Refuge

Terry Tempest Williams introduces two separate narrative threads in her essay, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place -- she tells us about the loss of the Burrowing owl nest at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (thanks to the construction of a new hunting club), and the horrific ramifications of the nuclear bomb tests in Nevada, Both of these threads showcase the damage that humanity poses to both nature and even itself thanks to our actions. The birds' home was taken away in order to make room for the new building, and the bombs led to the deaths of a lot of wildlife and possibly even had dangerous ramifications for the people living near the bomb sites. There is a very strong sense of place in the essay, and Tempest makes it clear that she feels very connected to both the land and the wildlife that inhabits it, even as the government considers the desert to be a vast and empty wasteland. How does this connect back to the idea of the meanings of places that Keith Basso talks about in his essay? How easy do you think it is to sever a connection that a sense of place has for us as humans?