In three namesakes of 19th century queer German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt — Humboldt County, Nevada, Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo NY, and Humboldt Redwoods, California — the struggle for environmental protection interweaves with technological alienation and climate collapse, in this experimental essay on American nature.

HUMBOLDT USA paints a far-ranging portrait of Americans using technologies to try to understand and respond to their rapidly changing environments. These interwoven, often-contradictory narratives raise the question: in the face of ecological collapse and increasing virtualization of life, how do the tools of the modern world change our relationship to nature?