I love nature. But one thing I am forced to admit about nature is that many of the things that make nature pleasant in practice are actually very artificial:

* Clothing and equipment
* Public toilets at most 1km away in city parks
* Paths, trails, roads
* Dangerous animals removed
* Lots of active maintenance

Nature is great. But pure "nature" is pooping in the forest with nothing to wash your hands, then fighting off a bear and then tripping over a branch and getting a wound, and three days later realizing you have a serious infection.

It's a mistake to view pristine nature as some kind of north star of good. It's not, not even for the animals experiencing it. An unavoidable ingredient in making a good world is human intention.

One counterpoint is that there is a true feeling of joy that comes from overcoming genuine challenge. But this feeling applies to some challenges much more than others!

Day-long hike with 2000m vertical elevation gain: 👍
Pooping with no toilet or place to wash hands: 👎
Getting an infected wound: 😡😰☠

This also applies to "metaphorical nature", eg. indefinite-optimist views of markets, "spontaneous order", etc.

I agree with this. Even hardcore enthusiasts set an exit date.
Nature eats us up or spits us out unless we tame it.

I think people consider pristine nature as a north star because they see this massive chaotic landscape that, at the micro level, is extremely complex with finely tuned codependence among residents.

Pristine nature isn't good for human residents. But it is good to consider when designing self-reliant systems.