The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting our National Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Speaker's Corner Series)

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Summary: A handbook for saving America's wild places
Review: "The Enduring Wilderness" is a highly effective handbook for everyone who wants to help save America's remnants of wilderness. Nothing could be more valuable in these times when government agencies are moving to commit these wild places to oil drilling, unnecessary roads, and clearcut logging. Doug Scott tells the fascinating story of how the Wilderness Act came to be passed by Congress 40 years ago, and how citizens in all parts of the U.S. have used that law to protect the unspoiled lands they love. The history of wilderness preservation is still being written by people who care. This book gives them the tools they need.

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Summary: The Enduring Wilderness - Long Overdue!
Review: "The Enduring Wilderness," by Doug Scott is a historical overview of the 1964 Wilderness Act, which created a system for protecting public lands in their natural state. But it's more than simply history - it explores the dedication and strategic thinking of those who worked for decades to make the wilderness ideal a legislative reality. This highly readable text is the only one of its kind I've seen that makes the complete connection between the wisdom of the first wilderness advocates; and current, ongoing efforts to protect more wild lands. For such a quick read, Scott's book contains a wealth of invaluable information that will increase the effectiveness of any wilderness advocate today.

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Summary: The Enduring Wilderness a must read!
Review: An essential historical narrative of our National Wilderness Preservation System. Scott uses the very words of those individuals who played key roles in the passage of the 1964 Act and his own experience and expertise in the field to tell the compelling tale of a truly American ideal: Wilderness. I couldn't put it down!

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Summary: A great book for those interested in wilderness
Review: 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.

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Summary: A great book on an important and uniquely American topic.
Review: 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!

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Summary: A 40 Year Report on the Wilderness Act
Review: It has been 40 years since Congress passed the Wilderness Act. This has been considered a success by nearly all sides of the political spectrum. This book, written by the director for the Campaign for America's Wilderness is an appeal to extend and expand the wilderness areas in the country. He points out the success that the Wilderness Act has been and illustrates many of his points by stories that will convince nearly anyone.

This is a small book, but one that clearly shows how important the continuation of the Governments actions has been to all of us.

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Summary: the bipartisan nature of wilderness protection
Review: John P. Saylor, a Republican from Johnstown, Pennsylvania originally introduced the Wilderness Act in Congress in 1956 with the statement: "We Americans are the people we are largely because we have had the influence of the wilderness on our lives."

The Wilderness Act, which established America's National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS), was finally signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in September of 1964. President Ronald Reagan holds the record for most wilderness bills (43) signed into law under the Wilderness Act. President Carter protected the most acres (66 million) during his administration.

Doug Scott's "The Enduring Wilderness" is refreshing because not only is it a meticulously detailed account of how the NWPS came into being and how wilderness areas are added to the system, but it also demonstrates that it is members of Congress and the American public from all across the political spectrum that deserve credit for growing our NWPS to its current size of 106 million acres.

Wilderness protection truly is an all-Amercian value, and "The Enduring Wilderness" is a must read for those who value our wilderness whether you're a Democrat, Republican or Independent.