A new book about the stories that shape nature, and who gets erased in the process.

Marketing the Wilderness pulls back the curtain on the outdoor recreation industry—on the glossy images, the feel-good branding, the well-meaning campaigns—and asks what’s being left out. It traces how the idea of “wilderness” in the U.S. was built through marketing strategies that romanticize land as empty and pristine, while erasing the Indigenous people who’ve always been there.

This isn’t just about history. It’s about our present moment. About how companies like Patagonia and The North Face, despite their progressive reputations, are entangled in the same colonial logic as extractive industries. About how Instagram has become a driver of public land use, overuse, and displacement. About how our good intentions, if unexamined, can reinforce harm.

How public lands have been left vulnerable to exactly the kinds of political and rhetorical attacks they are experiencing today.

If you’ve ever wondered how to reconcile your love for wild places with the politics of access, representation, and justice, this book is for you.