Western Public Lands and Environmental Politics [Paperback]

Charles Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0813337682 | ISBN-13: 978-0813337685 | Edition: 2nd

Beset by competing interests, efforts by federal agencies, Congress, and the courts to balance ecological and economic values in the development of federal land policies have produced a wide range of outcomes. This revised and updated volume of Western Public Lands and Environmental Politics examines the interplay between political organizations, interest groups, economic conditions, and demographic shifts, offering an explanation of changes in policies during this period that affected the management of rangeland, timber, energy, mineral, and wilderness resources. The book includes an entirely new chapter on wildlife policy and a review of different federal programs affecting public lands. It will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics and policy, natural resource management, public policy, and environmental history as well as to the general reader.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very comprehensive, readable, and informed survey that provides readers with a thorough understanding of the major Western public land policies and their environmental implications. The analysis of the environmental issues is thorough and balanced, with sensitivity to conflicting viewpoints and to the historical development of the issues. This is an excellent book for classroom use and a valuable addition to any library concerned with Western land policy and related environmental issues." -- Walter Rosenbaum, University of Florida

"Americans are struggling over how to manage the public legacy of parks, forests, and rangelands, and even whether to divest themselves of these lands. This collection offers much-needed theoretical perspectives on the politics of federal lands, analyzing the struggle in terms of interest group dynamics, bureaucratic models, and political history. The contributors give us an up-to-date look at several federal land issues. The volume is both encouraging and sobering. It shows that political scientists have a good grasp of the enduring social forces affecting public land policy, but the reader can reasonably conclude that political tensions over federal land issues will remain unresolved well into the next century. Federal land managers, often stuck between local interests and national goals, will appreciate its insights on governance. I look forward to using it in my classes." -- William E. Riebsame, University of Colorado at Boulder

"The politics associated with the development of public lands in the American West has always made for a fascinating story laced with intrigue, unique personalities, and battles between institutions. Recent changes in the demography of the West, interest group organization, concepts of federalism, and fiscal possibilities suggest that this story will evolve through significant changes in politics and policy. It is important to have a thorough understanding of the forces opposing and promoting change. In focusing on the last thirty years of this history, Western Public Lands and Environmental Politics presents a readable and thorough program-by-program review of federal policy and politics and provides both students and decisionmakers an ability to understand the context of the current debate." -- Steven L. Yaffee, University of Michigan

About the Author

Charles Davis is professor of political science at Colorado State University and the author of The Politics of Hazardous Waste(1993).

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press; 2nd edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813337682
• ISBN-13: 978-0813337685
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,188,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accessible introduction to the challenges of managing public lands, March 20, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: Western Public Lands and Environmental Politics (Paperback)

This is a nice collection of chapters on the management of western public lands. The papers are accessible to undergraduates or to the educated lay reader, but manage to convey the basics of sophisticated ideas about land management. Prior appropriation, externalities, ecosystem management, and other terms of art are introduced, explained, and made relevant. The authors do not have an ideological axe to grind, beyond the fact that they all care about what happens to the public lands that make up 30% of U.S. land area.

When the book talks about western public lands, it mostly means the Intermountain West. The Pacific Coast is less visible in these chapters than Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. Alaska receives much less attention than its size warrants. Finally, the book lacks chapters about how non-land laws such as the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act affect public land management.