By Jordan Bowman & Shalin Desai
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
January 29, 2021
Published in October 1921, Benton MacKaye’s vision was a product of his time – a period of rapid change, churn, and growth. In the few years preceding the publication of his essay, the nation participated in a world war, came out of a flu epidemic, was debating the human and civil rights of women and minorities, and was growing economically at an unprecedented rate. The stresses and strains these various layers of change created caused Benton to look outward — to the “health-giving powers” of the Appalachian Mountain air. A key piece of the A.T., in his mind, was creating and conserving a place where we could all benefit from the “dynamic forces of nature.”