A People’s History of Wilderness Paperback – September 2004
by Matt Jenkins (Editor)
Published on the 40th anniversary of America’s most important public lands protection movement
·Highlights the citizen activists who made and continue to make wilderness real
·Features new and archival stories from High Country News
With the signing of the Wilderness Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964, the National Wilderness Preservation System was established to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. High Country News brings to life the people and events who shaped this unprecedented citizen’s movement. Drawn from the pages of this award-winning newspaper whose coverage has been solely focused on environmental and cultural issues affecting the American West for over three decades, A People’s History of Wilderness presents the competing philosophies, complexities, and passions, as they happened, that has resulted in the protection of over 104 million acres of wilderness.
This is an excellent compilation of articles, essays and editorials from the top magazine about the western United States, High Country News, specifically dealing with wilderness.
Major national environmental groups as well as local organizations all get their due, as well as insight onto their different angles in wilderness legislation attempts, lobbying, etc.
So, too, do questions about compromise vs. hardball tactics, local vs. national perspectives, state-by-state vs. interstate wilderness bills and more.
But, this is also about the enjoyment of wilderness on the ground, along with related issues such as its overenjoyment in some cases, compromises with rancher grazing rights, and even more so with old mining claims and such.
You can’t do better than this book as an intro to wilderness issues.
