Wild Earth: Wild Ideas for a World Out of Balance

Rating:
Summary: A great read from the Wildlands Project
Review: I'm a huge fan of the Wildlands Project, an environmental organization started by Dave Foreman and others in the early 90s, so I was excited to read this new book. The book is more or less a "greatest hits" collection from Wild Earth, the magazine of the Wildlands Project. The book contains about 40 essays from America's best nature and conservation writers, including big names like Bill McKibben, Wendell Barry, and Barry Lopez, but it also has a number of really good pieces by lesser-known conservationists like Louisa Willcox, one of the country's leading experts on grizzly bears. This book is great for those new to nature and conservation writing, as it provides readers with a literary "who's who" of the conservation world. "Wilderness wonks" (like me) will get a lot from it as well, given the eclectic mix of authors represented and the quality of the writing. If you like this kind of writing, you should definitely look for Wild Earth magazine as well--its far and away the best environmental magazine out there. It's hard to find in bookstores, but well worth looking for (your best bet is to just get it from the Wildlands Project online).

Rating:
Summary: A great read from the Wildlands Project
Review: I'm a huge fan of the Wildlands Project, an environmental organization started by Dave Foreman and others in the early 90s, so I was excited to read this new book. The book is more or less a "greatest hits" collection from Wild Earth, the magazine of the Wildlands Project. The book contains about 40 essays from America's best nature and conservation writers, including big names like Bill McKibben, Wendell Barry, and Barry Lopez, but it also has a number of really good pieces by lesser-known conservationists like Louisa Willcox, one of the country's leading experts on grizzly bears. This book is great for those new to nature and conservation writing, as it provides readers with a literary "who's who" of the conservation world. "Wilderness wonks" (like me) will get a lot from it as well, given the eclectic mix of authors represented and the quality of the writing. If you like this kind of writing, you should definitely look for Wild Earth magazine as well--its far and away the best environmental magazine out there. It's hard to find in bookstores, but well worth looking for (your best bet is to just get it from the Wildlands Project online).

Rating:
Summary: Outside-the-box discussion on environmental issues
Review: This is a collection of essays from the first ten years of the journal Wild Earth that is unlike anything being published about the environment today. Environmentalists, activists, and leading scientists recognize it as being on the cutting edge of environmental studies and proposals. It has consistently established environmental goals that, in the words of publisher Dave Foreman, "...should be scientifically justifiable, visionary, and idealistic." It is that and much more. The contributors typically look far into the future in an effort to envision a vibrant North America, both culturally and ecologically, and then suggest a game plan that will come into fruition a hundred, or perhaps a thousand years from now. If you are looking for a thoughtful, outside-the-box discussion on the ethical debate on whether we treat the natural world as a commodity or community, this is as good as it gets. But beware, this is not your typical collection of environmental proposals.

The essays range from the proposal to reintroduce free-ranging elephants along the lower Colorado River and the Rio Grande to proposals to preserve 60 percent of the state of Florida as wildlife corridors for panthers and bears. There is an essay by J. Baird Callicott, professor of philosophy at the Univ. of North Texas that argues the Wilderness Act of 1964 is outdated and outmoded and a reply essay by Reed Noss, an international consultant on biodiversity issues, that provides the reader with a concise, succinct summary of the issues involved and is guaranteed to raise your level of awareness to this hotly debated topic.

The essay by Jamie Sayen, a New Hampshire activist, argues there are a number of similarities between nineteenth century slavery in the South and the industrial forestry of the twentieth century. He argues that both proponents have used the central theme of property rights to control and exploit humans and the environment. If this essay doesn't get your juices flowing nothing will. There are essays on the proposal to stabilize and reduce the population growth; the slaughter of Bison in Yellowstone park; the importance of wilderness areas for grizzly habitat; the importance of the sound of silence to our physical and mental well being; and the never ending issue of logging, clear-cutting, and the preservation of jobs.

In all, 38 contributors combine to present as foresighted, controversial, and stimulating discussion on the future of the environment as one can find in one volume. Regardless of your political leanings or environmental philosophy, this book is bound to stimulate, invigorate and perhaps make you a participant in the ongoing debate. An excellent offering by a first rate publisher.