Emile played the main character, Chris McCandless, and tells TMZ ... if it were up to him, he would put the bus in an area for people to visit without fear of getting lost in the wild or losing their lives in a raging river ... somewhere like, say, Emile's backyard!!!

As we reported ... the abandoned bus from the film -- based on a true story -- was a major, and sometimes deadly, tourist attraction in a remote area of Alaska's Denali National Park. On Thursday, the National Guard airlifted the bus from its location in the interest of public safety.

While Emile says the symbolism around the bus made a huge impact on fans around the world, he knows it presented some dangerous problems for people making the backcountry pilgrimage. Five Italian tourists had to be rescued earlier this year, and a woman died last year hiking to the bus, which spurred local officials to call for its relocation.

Emile says the cautionary tales were tragic to see, and he hopes the bus ends up somewhere safer ... as long it's not broken down and sold for scrap parts. For now, it's being held in a secure location until authorities find a new home for it.