Good, short overview of wilderness policy and politics

books:

	• The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Speaker's Corner Series) Doug Scott Fulcrum Publishing, 2004 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good, short overview of wilderness policy and politics

This book combines a brief history of American wilderness policy and politics with an impassioned plea for more wildernesses. Scott is the policy director for the Campaign for America's Wilderness, and a past recipient of the John Muir Award, so we are in no doubt where his sympathies lie.

Scott has written an admirable little book. It is short (154 pages of text, with wide margins and lots of sidebar quotes taking up space), so you shouldn't expect an in-depth history of wilderness policy. However, he packs a lot of information in that space. He provides a brief overview of attitudes toward wilderness from Teddy Roosevelt through Aldo Leopold and others in the 1920s and 1930s. After this, his story takes us through the Wilderness Act of 1964 and then into current debates over wilderness.

The centerpiece of his story is the question of statutory protection. Establishing a wilderness in the US requires an act of Congress and can be undone only by a similar act of Congress. This differs from other imaginable procedures, such as presidential decree or management agency discretion. Scott shows us why wilderness advocates came to believe that statutory protection was better than agency discretion, even if the agency was broadly sympathetic. He also argues that wilderness advocates were initially wrong in hoping for agency-based decisions subject only to congressional veto. Taking sole initiative away from agencies provided an incentive for grassroots citizen movements, which he believes has served the cause of wilderness well.

As you can see from my preceding paragraph, Scott gives us enough information so that we can disagree with him - - an admirable trait in any piece of advocacy. A mountain biker could read this book to understand why Scott's vision of wilderness excludes bicycles, and could also find common ground with Scott on preserving natural areas. This mountain biker would also gain insight into political strategies for protecting bike trails effectively.

Wilderness areas can be found in land managed by the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Though he doesn't make a big deal out of the differences across agencies - - after all, he has to work with these people - - it's clear that some agencies are easier to work with than others. He makes a friendly plea for the NPS to rethink how it approaches wilderness, for example.

Seeing the past century of wilderness policy also raises questions about our current dilemmas. Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, was our greatest conservationist president. Important legislation passed under Nixon and Ford. The younger Bush, in contrast, is extraordinarily hostile to wilderness. Bush has the support of most of the western states in which wilderness lies, though individual counties voted for Kerry (Teton County, Wyoming; Glacier County, Montana; and most of the ski areas in Colorado). Wilderness advocates need to make coalitions that include these voters, and current strategies don't seem to be working. Scott's next book might address some of these challenges.

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Where Man Himself Is a Visitor

This is an essential primer for all those wishing to learn more about the legislative and legalistic aspects of conservation activism. Doug Scott analyzes the history and politics behind statutory wilderness protection at the federal level, which culminated in the momentous Wilderness Act of 1964. I am proud to be from the same state (Pennsylvania) as two of the leading lights behind that legislation ? Howard Zahniser and Rep. John P. Saylor. Believe it or not, Saylor was a Republican congressman, indicating that conservation has not always been the stark divisive issue that it is today. In the first half of this book, Scott gives a history of wilderness activism in the United States, from colonial times through the great influential figures of John Muir and Aldo Leopold, and how scattershot protection of valuable areas led to the need for the structured Act of Congress in 1964.

The second half of the book, starting with Chapter 5, gets more interesting as Scott turns to the modern politics of conservation that have been embodied by citizen requests for protection of their valued wild areas. We learn that every president has approved additions to America's protected wilderness, even GWB, and that this has always been accomplished through bipartisan compromise. As proven in poll after poll, the majority of Americans, from all walks of life and political stances, favor the protection of wilderness. This knowledge is a valuable side effect of this book, in that Scott shows us that the American government has always had a strong sense of compromise and pragmatism, which has proven to be more effective than the divisiveness and narrow ideological posturing that you might think have swamped government processes, thanks to loudmouthed pundits and sound bite media coverage. I have met Doug Scott at a speaking engagement, and I feel that anyone who loves wilderness as an American tradition should become familiar with his works. [~doomsdayer520~]

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Inspiring Insights into Conserving our Wild Heritage

While reading Doug Scott's book, I realized that wilderness is not a thing or a place, but a process that people can use to help protect and conserve the places that are important to us. Wilderness is not a Republican or Democrat issue, but an American one; we are united by our common ground, literally. I also learned how powerful a small group of people can be when they're committed, united and persistent in pursuing protection for their favorite places. Thank you, Doug!

A great book for those interested in wilderness

I bought this book for a college class on wilderness and it provides a great overview of wilderness protection in the 20th century. It is amazing how so many years of history have been succinctly put into such a short book along with many insightful quotes. It is a great book for anyone interested in learning about protecting the wilderness.

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Enjoyed the History

I enjoyed the historical perspective that is documented in the book. Mr. Scott gives a good narrative of the historical time line for The Wilderness Act of 1964. His supportive quotes from many people who were involved in the long process of writing and passing the bill are both interesting and timely. I feel the book is very timely as well as historical to today's wilderness protection process.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

A look at how America has preserved more than 100 million acres of diverse wilderness areas in 44 states, now protected in our National Wilderness Preservation System. Discussion of current visions valuing wilderness and its place in our culture.

*Outlines key details of the Wilderness Act and what it does
*Explanations of what protecting wilderness means and requires
*Provides in-depth historical context

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