From Conquest to Conservation: Our Public Lands Legacy

From Conquest to Conservation is a visionary new work from three of the nation's most knowledgeable experts on public lands. As chief of the Forest Service, Mike Dombeck became a lightning rod for public debate over issues such as the management of old-growth forests and protecting roadless areas. Dombeck also directed the Bureau of Land Management from 1994 to 1997 and is the only person ever to have led the two largest land management agencies in the United States. Chris Wood and Jack Williams have similarly spent their careers working to steward public resources, and the authors bring unparalleled insight into the challenges facing public lands and how those challenges can be met.<P>Here, they examine the history of public lands in the United States and consider the most pressing environmental and social problems facing public lands. Drawing heavily on fellow Forest Service employee Aldo Leopold's land ethic, they offer specific suggestions for new directions in policy and management that can help maintain and restore the health, diversity, and productivity of public land and water resources, both now and into the future.<P> Also featured are lyrical and heartfelt essays from leading writers, thinkers, and scientists-- including Bruce Babbitt, Rick Bass, Patricia Nelson Limerick, and Gaylord Nelson--about the importance of public lands and the threats to them, along with original drawings by William Millonig.<BR>

Three natural resource managers provide a history of public lands in the United States while considering current environmental and social problems. The book recommends policy and management directions and encourages readers to get involved in public lands stewardship. The chapters offer contributions from writers and scientists such as Bruce Battitt, Rick Bass, and Patricia Nelson Limerick. The topics include land health and broad-scale declines in forest and rangeland; the public and private land connection, and river and stream health; and our search for sustainability. The book includes several black and white charts and maps. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-207) and index.

Mike Dombeck is Pioneer Professor of Global Environmental Management at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, and University of Wisconsin System Fellow for Global Conservation.

Chris Wood is vice president for conservation and watershed programs for Trout Unlimited in Arlington, Virginia.

Jack Williams is senior fellow at the AuCoin Institute for Ecological, Economic, and Civic Studies at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.

Contents

Preface

Foreward by Charles Wilkinson

Introduction

Chapter 1. All the People's Land: The Wealth of

the Nation

Public Lands: An American Birthright

Chapter 2. Controversy Comes to the Public Lands

Birds and Battlefields and

Humor: Things Could Be a Lot Worse

Chapter 3. Land Health: Broad-Scale Declines in Forest

and Rangeland Conditions

Radical Changes in a Sagebrush

Landscape: The Role of Exotic Cheatgrass in

Disrupting a System

Chapter 4. River and Stream Health: The Public/

Private Land Connection

Rivers: Lifelines of the Land

Chapter 5. Roadless Areas: The Last Wild Places

A Dream for Healing the

Kootenai

The Heart of the West: BLM's

National Landscape Conservation System

Chapter 6. Restoration: Healing the Land and Healing

Ourselves

The Once and Future Land Ethic

Chapter 7. Living withing Limits: Our Search for

Sustainability

Reforestation: Recognizing the Ties

that Bind

Chapter 8. The Upshot: Conservation Challenges for

a New Century

Bringing People and Conservation

Together: The Future Constituency for Public Lands

Enduring Values of Our

Public Lands: Peace, Wildness, and Beauty

Notes

About the Authors

Index