Working the Wilderness: Early Leaders for Wild Lands tells true stories about four men and one woman who established how to work in and be in the wilderness. They were guides for protection of wilderness and for the protectors who followed them. Their lives were immersed in service ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚" to wild land and the American People. They worked for the U.S. Forest Service, centered in the vast Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho and Montana. Three were active before and after the Wilderness Act of 1964. The younger two came in at the beginning of the modern wilderness era. They all adapted skills of the pioneers to the new land designation. Their stories celebrate heroes for the enduring resource of wilderness and point to the future to keep their legacies thriving.

Which is worse, cows or condos? Can the public lands be "saved" if the private lands are paved? What does the future hold for the West's vaunted open lands, its ever more precious water, and its fire-prone forests? Is ranching a doomed mythas its critics chargeor the key to real conservation? The Western range is America's most legendary landscape. It is also among its most threatened and most fiercely contested. More than 400 million acres of the West are used to raise livestock: half of the land privately owned and half of it public. In recent decades, the private lands have been rapidly converting to residential development, both around booming cities and in remote, scenic, "exurban" areas. The public half of the range has become mired in political battles and lawsuits between environmentalists, ranchers, and public agencies. In Working Wilderness Nathan Sayre examines an unusual alliance that has worked for ten years to answer these questions and preserve the wide open range: The Malpai Borderlands Group. 50 color & b/w photos.

An oft-told story from different perspectives, the history of the American fur trade is here placed within the overall rivalry for empire between Britain and the United States. David Lavender focuses on men such as John Jacob Astor and Ramsay Crooks who learned to exploit the needs and wants of Indian tribes to gain a superior economic position over the British and made fur trading an integral economic activity in early U.S. history. Maps.

Why understanding evolution—the most reviled branch of science—can help us all, from fighting pandemics to undoing racism Evolutionary science has long been regarded as conservative, a tool for enforcing regressive ideas, particularly about race and gender. But in A Voice in the Wilderness, evolutionary biologist Joseph L. Graves Jr.—once styled as the “Black Darwin”—argues that his field is essential to social justice. He shows, for example, why biological races do not exist. He dismantles recent work in “human biodiversity” seeking genes to explain the achievements of different ethnic groups. He decimates homophobia, sexism, and classism as well. As a pioneering Black biologist, a leftist, and a Christian, Graves uses his personal story—his journey from a child of Jim Crow to a major researcher and leader of his peers—to rewrite his field. A Voice in the Wilderness is a powerful work of scientific anti-racism and a moving account of a trailblazing life.

Point Reyes National Seashore has a long history as a working landscape, with dairy and beef ranching, fishing, and oyster farming; yet, since 1962 it has also been managed as a National Seashore. The Paradox of Preservation chronicles how national ideals about what a park “ought to be” have developed over time and what happens when these ideals are implemented by the National Park Service (NPS) in its efforts to preserve places that are also lived-in landscapes. Using the conflict surrounding the closure of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, Laura Alice Watt examines how NPS management policies and processes for land use and protection do not always reflect the needs and values of local residents. Instead, the resulting landscapes produced by the NPS represent a series of compromises between use and protection—and between the area’s historic pastoral character and a newer vision of wilderness. A fascinating and deeply researched book, The Paradox of Preservation will appeal to those studying environmental history, conservation, public lands, and cultural landscape management, and to those looking to learn more about the history of this dynamic California coastal region.

Describes tips on how to survive in the wilderness.