The optimal existence for human and societal development, said Thoreau, as a combination of the freedom and strength of wildersess with the intellectual refinements of civilization. Enter Leo Marx. He really does focus upon the wild, and occasionally he tempers his enthusiasm with a word of praise for civilization as well. Nash is on to something here. One is Nash's wonderful use of population pressure in a non deterministic manner.
Population is the basic, primal, major threat to wilderness.
Nash is careful to avoid any deterministic analyses. In this specific case, Nash points out that wildernes preservation depends upon population control, wilderness management, technological advancement, and population centralization. This is related to technology, because only the increase of technological efficiency in food and energy production can limit mankind's runaway consumption of nonrenewable resources.