Customer Reviews

California Desert Miracle: The Fight for Desert Parks and Wilderness (Sunbelt Natural History Guides)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Too bad there are only five stars. This book deserves ten.

The "Fight for Desert Parks and Wilderness" has enabled and gifted me, as a resident of the Colorado Desert, to derive nourishment from my natural surroundings and delight from viewing the desert natural life, rather than be surrounded by back to back condos for as many miles as one can see, or should I say drive.

Mr. Wheat, former President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, has written an edifying and interesting story of heroic proportions. The California desert covers one quarter of the state. And it was in need of protection from destructive forces in the name of progress, along with its natural life. Only an erudite, educated and knowledgeable person such as Mr. Wheat would have had the qualities necessary to carry out the winning of protection for the tender and beautiful desert that I have the privilege of waking up in and taking long walks through with my dog each day of my life.

This book tells how, in a very concise and interesting manner, Mr. Wheat and others, including the late actor William Holden and the Sierra Club, to name a few, got together to rescue what was endangered.

Congratulations to him for letting the reader know just how the enactment of the California Protection Act of 1994 came about in a fascinating narrative which I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated.

This book tries to document how legislation was created to protect California deserts. I am still not sure what was accomplished by the desert protection act. The tale is told in a disjointed manner that is hard to follow. I know much hard work went into these activities, but it will not come through in this book.

Also note that this book is very partisan. For example, groups that ride motorcycles in the desert are portrayed in a negative manner, I guess as the enemy. I would like to have seen their viewpoint presented. So, this book may give you some idea of what happened, but only from one side.

It is not a book for the student of politics, too one sided, and the story proceeds in a random fashion. I hoped to understand what was protected, why, how various viepoints were served. Instead, it is a "pat on the back" to a handful of individuals. I wish it would be postured as such, and I could have saved my money.