The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Speaker's Corner) [Paperback]

Doug Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2004 | Series: Speaker's Corner

A look at how America has preserved more than 100 million acres of diverse wilderness areas in 44 states, now protected in our National Wilderness Preservation System. Discussion of current visions valuing wilderness and its place in our culture.

*Outlines key details of the Wilderness Act and what it does
*Explanations of what protecting wilderness means and requires
*Provides in-depth historical context

Editorial Reviews

Review

...A must for ordinary citizens who care about saving our wilderness heritage for future generations. Hopeful, practical, and compelling. -- Christopher Reeve

...call to action for all who desire to see wilderness preserved for future generations to experience and appreciate... -- Dennis Madsen, President and CEO, Recreational Equipment Inc (REI)

An essential volume for everyone who wants to help save an enduring resource of wilderness. -- William H. Meadows, President, The Wilderness Society

Holy, Holy, Holy! -- Kurt Vonnegut

Our generation...has an obligation to preserve...more areas that qualify for wilderness designation. -- Theodore Roosevelt IV, from the Foreword

The Enduring Wilderness is well-written, convincing the reader to leave it wild. -- Cindy Shogan, Alaska Wilderness League

From the Publisher

Speaker's Corner Books is a provocative new series designed to stimulate, educate, and foster discussion on significant public policy topics.Written by experts in a variety of fields, these brief and engaging books should be read by anyone interested in the trends and issues that shape our society.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing (August 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555915272
• ISBN-13: 978-1555915278
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,036,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Doug Scott is policy director of The Campaign for America's Wilderness. He holds a forestry degree from the University of Michigan, where he did his graduate research on the history and drafting of what became the Wilderness Act of 1964. Scott began his own work for wilderness preservation soon after the Wilderness Act became law. As a volunteer activist while in graduate school, a Washington lobbyist for The Wilderness Society, and northwest representative for the Sierra Club, he was in the forefront of many of the important wilderness preservation campaigns as a strategist and lobbyist. Some of these include the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Act (1976), the monumental Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (1980), statewide wilderness laws for dozens of states in the 1980s, and the California Desert Protection Act (1994). In the 1980s, Scott was conservation director and, later, associate executive director of the Sierra Club, and in 1996 he received the club's highest honor, the John Muir Award. Scott was also a member of the board of directors of Environmental Teach-In, Inc., which organized the first Earth Day in 1970. He now speaks frequently on college campuses, at training programs for federal agency personnel who administer wilderness areas, and at gatherings of wilderness advocacy organizations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book on an important and uniquely American topic., February 5, 2005

By 

Keith W. Reinemann (Gettysburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Speaker's Corner) (Paperback)

In this book, Doug Scott provides us with an in-depth, refreshing and much needed look at the American Wilderness. We are all familiar with the wilderness of lore, whether it the pristine forests of Thoreau or the hostile wastes of the biblical prophet John. While these are powerful images they can't really compare to the diverse and very tangible wildernesses which are outlined in this book. Mr. Scott does a wonderful job both in detailing the ideas of the American Wilderness and the history and policy which brought this idea into reality.

I was fortunate enough to have used this book as a text for a college course. It is by far the most interesting college text book I have!

Mr. Scott presents a compelling look at the American Wilderness while at the same time giving us a hopeful outlook for its future. If you plan to have an opinion, you'd better read this first!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, short overview of wilderness policy and politics, February 18, 2005

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Speaker's Corner) (Paperback)

This book combines a brief history of American wilderness policy and politics with an impassioned plea for more wildernesses. Scott is the policy director for the Campaign for America's Wilderness, and a past recipient of the John Muir Award, so we are in no doubt where his sympathies lie.

Scott has written an admirable little book. It is short (154 pages of text, with wide margins and lots of sidebar quotes taking up space), so you shouldn't expect an in-depth history of wilderness policy. However, he packs a lot of information in that space. He provides a brief overview of attitudes toward wilderness from Teddy Roosevelt through Aldo Leopold and others in the 1920s and 1930s. After this, his story takes us through the Wilderness Act of 1964 and then into current debates over wilderness.

The centerpiece of his story is the question of statutory protection. Establishing a wilderness in the US requires an act of Congress and can be undone only by a similar act of Congress. This differs from other imaginable procedures, such as presidential decree or management agency discretion. Scott shows us why wilderness advocates came to believe that statutory protection was better than agency discretion, even if the agency was broadly sympathetic. He also argues that wilderness advocates were initially wrong in hoping for agency-based decisions subject only to congressional veto. Taking sole initiative away from agencies provided an incentive for grassroots citizen movements, which he believes has served the cause of wilderness well.

As you can see from my preceding paragraph, Scott gives us enough information so that we can disagree with him - - an admirable trait in any piece of advocacy. A mountain biker could read this book to understand why Scott's vision of wilderness excludes bicycles, and could also find common ground with Scott on preserving natural areas. This mountain biker would also gain insight into political strategies for protecting bike trails effectively.

Wilderness areas can be found in land managed by the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Though he doesn't make a big deal out of the differences across agencies - - after all, he has to work with these people - - it's clear that some agencies are easier to work with than others. He makes a friendly plea for the NPS to rethink how it approaches wilderness, for example.

Seeing the past century of wilderness policy also raises questions about our current dilemmas. Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, was our greatest conservationist president. Important legislation passed under Nixon and Ford. The younger Bush, in contrast, is extraordinarily hostile to wilderness. Bush has the support of most of the western states in which wilderness lies, though individual counties voted for Kerry (Teton County, Wyoming; Glacier County, Montana; and most of the ski areas in Colorado). Wilderness advocates need to make coalitions that include these voters, and current strategies don't seem to be working. Scott's next book might address some of these challenges.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for those interested in wilderness, February 6, 2005

By 

Alicia - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Speaker's Corner) (Paperback)

I bought this book for a college class on wilderness and it provides a great overview of wilderness protection in the 20th century. It is amazing how so many years of history have been succinctly put into such a short book along with many insightful quotes. It is a great book for anyone interested in learning about protecting the wilderness.