Outside Reading: "Leadership for Environmental Sustainability" Ch. 3- Mary Ragan

I just read Ch. 3 out of this book for my Leadership class that I have with Professor Redekop who actually wrote this chapter of the book. I actually found it pretty interesting. It talked a lot about people appreciating nature and having a desire to want to keep it here instead of running it out of all of the resources and damaging it greatly. But the big problem is that the many of the effects of the poor behavior of many people to the environment will not be felt for a long time so people don't realize it as much now. Leaders need to find a way to make people want to change their ways and put effort into trying to prevent what is happening or on the way to happening. Reading this, I thought about the AT and how horrible it would be if effects of our behavior eventually were very detrimental to it. I'm sure there have already even been some negative effects. The article mentions how there are studies on the stress- relieving functions of nature (p. 62). The physiological and emotional benefits about nature should be prevalent in leaders efforts because often people are interested in how their actions are going to benefit themselves. Apparently an emotional "affinity for nature" "has been found to be one of the primary motivating factors for sustainable behaviors" which seems logical to me (p. 62). He sites Knopf (1987, p. 801) in saying that there are many reasons people participate in outdoor activity such as escape, social reinforcement, competence building and aesthetic or spiritual enjoyment (p. 62). These sound like many of the reasons people hike the AT. There is such importance in nature and so many people enjoy and embrace it. I can't get over what many people get from walking the AT, a long trail filled with nature's wonders. It's very interesting. But people need to start thinking more about how we are affecting our environment and make effort to change it.