Contested Terrain explores the competing understandings of how best to manage this spectacular natural resource. Terrie introduces the key players and events that have shaped the region and its use, from early settlers and loggers to preservationists, year-round residents, and developers. This new edition includes a comprehensive account of the Pataki years, an era of stunning conservation triumphs combined with unprecedented pressures on the region's ecological integrity.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
...the finest general Adirondack history yet written, the book to which all subsequent accounts will have to refer. -- New York Review of Books, Bill McKibben
A new, sharply focused, exhaustively researched book on the cultural, political and social history of the Adirondacks by the man who probably knows more about it than anyone else. . . . It's a brilliant follow-up to Terrie's Forever Wild: A Cultural History of Wilderness in the Adirondacks. -- Jim Reilly, Syracuse Herald American, July 20, 1997
Written for a general readership, Contested Terrain shows how expectations about land use, combined with human interactions with nature, have defined the Adirondacks. As he outlines disputes for control of the land, Philip Terrie introduces the key players, from the year-round residents to wealthy downstate landholders, and 20th century preservationists and developers. Richly illustrated with b/w photographs from the Adirondack Museum (many rarely seen before) Contested Terrain provides a much-needed introduction to Adirondack history. Terrie discusses the conflict that has been debated in this region for centuries: Is the Adirondack Park a place to be exploited for its resources or is it to be treasured for its natural beauty and open spaces? The genteel sportsman of the 1850s perceived the area much differently from settlers struggling to make a living through farming, trapping, guiding, and logging. And the debate continues today. Diverse images of the Adirondacks have emerged. The ever-growing waves of seasonal visitors and the threat of land decimation all emphasized the need for a lucid, humane, and environmentally sensitive agenda for the Adirondacks' future. Contested Terrain is a classic of scholarship, a masterpiece of historical research, a benchmark publication in regional American environmental history. -- Midwest Book Review
A new, sharply focused, exhaustively researched book on the cultural, political and social history of the Adirondacks by the man who probably knows more about it than anyone else. . . . It's a brilliant follow-up to Terrie's Forever Wild: A Cultural History of Wilderness in the Adirondacks. -- Jim Reilly, Syracuse Herald American, July 20, 1997
Written for a general readership, Contested Terrain shows how expectations about land use, combined with human interactions with nature, have defined the Adirondacks. As he outlines disputes for control of the land, Philip Terrie introduces the key players, from the year-round residents to wealthy downstate landholders, and 20th century preservationists and developers. Richly illustrated with b/w photographs from the Adirondack Museum (many rarely seen before) Contested Terrain provides a much-needed introduction to Adirondack history. Terrie discusses the conflict that has been debated in this region for centuries: Is the Adirondack Park a place to be exploited for its resources or is it to be treasured for its natural beauty and open spaces? The genteel sportsman of the 1850s perceived the area much differently from settlers struggling to make a living through farming, trapping, guiding, and logging. And the debate continues today. Diverse images of the Adirondacks have emerged. The ever-growing waves of seasonal visitors and the threat of land decimation all emphasized the need for a lucid, humane, and environmentally sensitive agenda for the Adirondacks' future. Contested Terrain is a classic of scholarship, a masterpiece of historical research, a benchmark publication in regional American environmental history. -- Midwest Book Review
About the Author
Philip G. Terrie is professor emeritus of American culture studies, English, and environmental studies at Bowling Green University. He is author of Forever Wild, also published by Syracuse University Press.
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is much better than Schneider's.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks (Hardcover)
I have always loved the Adirondacks, but after reading this astonishingly well-written book I have a new appreciation for this remarkable region. If you're a fellow Adirondacks-lover I HIGHLY recommend this book. Also, if you have time to read only one history of the Adirondacks, then this is the one to read.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent Introduction,
By P.K. Ryan "The Ryan Identity" (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks (Paperback)
This wasn't the most exciting history book I've ever read but it was an informative and concise history of the region. The region known as the Adirondacks is a huge tract of wilderness in northern New York that, as Terrie describes it, is "an unintended mix of private land, villages, and state-owned wilderness." In the opinion of this lifelong frequenter of "The Dacks," it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Terrie thoroughly explains the conflicting intentions for the region that have plagued it since it was first explored and settled in the 18th century. The conflict was between those who recognized it's unique natural beauty and wanted to preserve it as such, and those who saw it as just another land to be exploited for it's natural resources. More recently, the struggle continues as everyday residents of the region battle the bureaucratic Adirondack Park Agency for the right to grow economically, something which has been consistently denied to them, due to the stringent restrictions on any kind of development. Originally published in 1997, it is a bit dated, but for any fellow Adirondack lovers, I would say it's definitely worth checking out.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fair-minded, readable academic history of the Adirondacks,
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This review is from: Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks (Paperback)
This book provides a good history of Adirondack State Park, an area three times as large as Yellowstone. Unlike Yellowstone, only about half of ASP consists of publicly-held land; the rest is private lands within the park's "blue line." Disagreements over how to keep the public land wild, and what developments are appropriate on private lands within the park boundaries, dominate this narrative.
Terrie is fair-minded, explaining the views of each side in their own words. He is a resident of the area, and would like to see more local influence in regional planning, within the context of an overall conservationist agenda. Since the region's political rhetoric pitches outsiders' strict environmentalism against locals' economic concerns, Terrie's narrative emphasizes the more complex battle lines, with insiders and outsiders on each side of every debate. His account would be valuable for readers with a personal connection to the region. For the rest of us, it is best read in the context of debates over local control versus national control of national parks, national forests, and other preserved areas. A new concluding chapter brings the book up to date, instead of changing the original text in light of later developments. This creates a rough transition and some overlaps between the original final chapter and the new final chapter, but otherwise serves the story well. It's not a perfect book but it's as good an overview of the Adirondacks as I've seen.
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