This innovative book provides a dynamic—and often surprising—view of the range of environmental issues facing the United States today. A distinguished group of scholars examines the growing temporal, spatial, and thematic breadth of topics historical geographers are now exploring. Seventeen original chapters examine topics such as forest conservation, mining landscapes, urban environment justice, solid waste, exotic species, environmental photography, national and state park management, recreation and tourism, and pest control. Commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the seminal work The American Environment: Interpretations of Past Geographies, the book clearly shows much has changed since 1992. Indeed, not only has the range of issues expanded, but an increasing number of geographers are forging links with environmental historians, promoting a level of intellectual cross-fertilization that benefits both disciplines. As a result, environmental historical geographies today are richer and more diverse than ever. The American Environment Revisited offers a comprehensive overview that gives both specialist and general readers a fascinating look at our changing relationships with nature over time.

The untold history of how people came to conceive, to manage, and to dispute environmental crisis, The Environment is essential reading for anyone who wants to help protect the environment from the numerous threats it faces today.

In recent decades, historical geographers have left study of nature-culture interactions to others, most notably to environmental historians. This collection, written specially for this volume, reveals a renewed commitment by, and a rapidly accelerating research agenda for, historical geographers interested in environmental issues. Following an introductory literature review, each case study explores either the direct unplanned impact of humans on the natural environment or the deliberate management policies designed to shape that impact. 'From their stronghold of applied historical geography, the contributors to this volume demonstrate the utility of the historical approach in the study and management of the environment. It hopefully signals a renewed interest in the field by workers whose lineage is from the human side of the continuum.' --Stanley W. Trimble, from the preface.

The nineteenth-century saw a significant transformation in the United States. In one short century, the nation had seen the populating of the Great Plains and West, the decimation of native Indian tribes, the growth of national transportation and communication networks, and the rise of major cities. The century also witnessed the destruction of the nation's forests, battles over land and water, and the ascent of agribusiness. With these changes in resource use patterns and values came a concordant shift in attitudes toward nature. Conservation and preservation emerged as watchwords for the 1900s. The century that started with an attitude of environmental conquest thus ended by embracing conservation and a new environmental awareness.

"Over 15 chapters, Dunaway transforms what we know about icons and events. Seeing Green is the first history of ads, films, political posters, and magazine photography in the postwar American environmental movement. From fear of radioactive fallout during the Cold War to anxieties about global warming today, images have helped to produce what Dunaway calls "ecological citizenship, " telling us that "we are all to blame." Dunaway heightens our awareness of how depictions of environmental catastrophes are constructed, manipulated, and fought over" -- Publisher information.

In this book Richard N. L. Andrews looks at American environmental policy over the past four hundred years, shows how it affects environmental issues and public policy decisions today, and poses the central policy challenges for the future. This second edition brings the book up to date through President George W. Bush’s first term and gives the current state of American environmental politics and policy. “A guide to what every organizational decision maker, public and private, needs to know in an era in which environmental issues have become global.”—Lynton K. Caldwell, Public Administration Review "A wonderful text for students and scholars of environmental history and environmental policy.”—William L. Andreen, Environmental History