Environment and Nature Books

Roger Bate follows in a long line of authors who have written for the London based free market institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs. Capitalism by Arthur Seldon, Education and the State by E. G. West and Working Class Patients by David G. Green have all explored the development of solutions to social and economic problems without the state being involved.

The broader historical context can be found in the writings of the Scottish enlightenment, notably Adam Smith who saw the virtues of the free market and the superiority of men acting together to generate a solution which was not planned. later, hayek through his insight of dispersed knowledge recognised the limits to state action which could be overcome through individual economic actors working in concert together.

In this admirable little book, Roger Bate explores the fight that the (now) Anglers' Conservation Association has fought in cleaning up English and Welsh rivers and streams from pollution and other environmental damage. This voluntary club or society if you like has used the tools provided by the English Common Law to battle against polluters whether they be individual farmers, commercial enterprises, local authorities, government agencies (including environmental ones!) or nationalised industries. They have been remarkably successful in saving our streams and rivers despite being of small membership and limited in funds. Despite those handicaps they have fought against all powerful government and it's statute law to establish the pre-eminence of riparian rights.

Roger Bate sets out with remarkable clarity the history of the Anglers' Conservation Association and the principles upon which it is based. He examines the legal basis of the cases which have set the precedents for later action, landmark cases and shows how they have impacted on British Government policy.

If I have any reservation about this book at all it would be that there is not sufficient consideration of the impact of current European legislation and the possible impact of European policy on this area. However, this may be the subject of another research monograph for another day.

The book provides further support and evidence, if anymore were needed, for the superiority of individual action or individuals acting in concert over the futile although well meaning actions of the state. I commend it to all readers.

Originally written in 1976 (under the title "Assault on a Wilderness"), Saving The Big Thicket: From Exploration To Preservation, 1685-2003 is the environmental saga of a ten-year war between conservationists and timber companies concerning the 84,550 acres of the Texas Big Thicket National Preserve. Chronicling modern history in an eminently readible manner, Saving The Big Thicket reveals in detail the issues advocated by both sides of the often heated controversy, and offers a handful of black-and-white photographs as embellishment. Saving The Big Thicket is a welcome and scholarly addition to American conservation studies and environmental history shelves.

This book is very well written and speaks not only to current environmental issues, but also to ones of the past. Everyone should have a copy of this book. When writing a paper on Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING and the environmental movement of the 1960's, this book saved my life! The information was so helpful, and it really helped me to to understand the "Big Picture" behind environmentalism. My history teacher hopes to incorporate this text into the cirriculum next year. It is an excellent book, and is worth every penny!!!THANK YOU HAL ROTHMAN for this environmental masterpiece!

Bryan Norton is a well known academic and writer of environmental philosophy. This collection brings together the development of his thoughts on sustainability creating a bridge from pragamatism, and the thought of Aldo Leopold forward to modern environmental and public policy issues. It is a must for anyone interested in environmental management or philosophy.

I would recommend Eric Sterling Books to Anybody. It is best for ages 7-12 but it's OK for teens too, if they don't mind it being short. If you like Action, Animals, Mystery, Danger and of course Fun then PLEASE read these books.

An unprecedented story - a comprehensive dissection of an anti-environmental PR campaign based on an almost complete set of leaked public relations files. The tactics exposed are in common use - especially in North America, but rarely see the light of day until many years have passed. Shandwick, one of the top 10 environmental "greenwashers" helped Shell manage bad publicity over it's role in Nigeria. They were hired in 1997 to build support for Timberlands, a state-owned logging company in New Zealand. For two years 5 full time employees ran a comprehensive campaign to discredit the environmentalists, who initially had majority support, and build a positive picture of their logging plans in the eyes of the public. The exposure of these plans, by the initial publication of this book in the fall of 1999 , led in part to the downfall of the NZ government and the cancellation of the Timberlands old growth logging plans.

The book makes use of the leaked documents to illustrate how environmental groups were infiltrated, and attempts made to neutralize them. Details of how sources of funding were targeted, and the use of legal threats or "SLAPP suits". It documents the people who actively assisted the company, as well as those who were unknowingly recruited in support. The setting up and methods of control of supposedly independent front groups is revealed in the leaked PR documents. In North America the "wise use" groups fit this model. The manipulation of the media is detailed. Friendly press were given all-expense paid tours of model logging areas, for which positive publicity was expected. Complaints were sent to the employers of journalists who wrote stories unfavorable to logging.

"Dirty tricks" are exposed. The planting of a fake bomb and the destruction of a tree-sitting platform with a log slung from a helicopter are exposed through subsequent cover ups and attempts to influence an investigation by aviation authorities.

I rate this book highly because of the unique portrait of an anti-environmental campaign, and it's relevance to campaigns in North America.

What people do is behind the build-up of earth-warming gases. For example, carbon dioxide builds up from people using fossil fuels and cutting down tropical forests. Methane builds up from people raising so many animals and so much irrigated rice. These gases change climate. Changed climate means changed air and water, changed farming, and changed life.

In these cases, people change land cover by changing land use. Is it surprising that changing forest cover is so serious? Trees are homes to plants, people, bugs, birds and animals. They keep us all breathing, by adding oxygen to the air. They make sure there's carbon, what with green things growing old and dying. They make sure there's water by getting rainfall into the ground and the water table. They make sure water levels stay about the same in streams and stop soil erosion on stream banks.

Land cover always changes. But that used to be part of natural climate changes taking place over a long time. What's different now is fast-paced land clearing for grazing, farming, and building dams, roads and suburbs. Some forests grow back. Others not.

Natural scientists were the first squeaky wheels about the role of people in all this. They couldn't come up with solutions, on their own, to problem changes in air and weather. They needed the help of social scientists. For everywhere natural scientists were SEEING THE FOREST AND THE TREES they were also seeing HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS.

Editors Emilio F Moran and Elinor Ostrom, along with their contributing writers, all agree the future of forests, forest livers, and people depends on natural and social scientists working together. The problems of the forest, and of the quality of life on earth, have nature and people aspects. But our educational system gets in the way of this kind of problem-solving. From elementary schools all the way through universities, the natural and social sciences are kept apart. That can change, with enough time, goodwill and effort, say the editors and writers. And the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change at Indiana University sets a fine example.

This well-indexed book has helpful tables, photographs and figures. It ends with a good glossary and an up-to-date set of references. The editors say they're writing for university and university-level research settings. The style and wording can be academic. But the problems and problem-solving go with clear graphics, examples and conclusions. So readers should catch all the fine points of what Virginia Tech master gardeners call that most important wildlands-urban interface.

Duane paints an interesting and comprehensive portrait of how the Sierra Nevada area has been transformed by the shift from an emphasis on resource extraction to a lifestyle choice.

His illustrations of the paradox thus created--the region's success as a recreation destination is imperiling the very qualities that are giving it that success--is particularly compelling.

Anyone with an interest in the Sierra Nevada, or mountain/recreational area living in general, will find this a fascinating read. I can't imagine anyone who is making policy for any area trying to grapple with the issues of growth and quality of life not having a copy of this work.

The scholarly component--I did find myself skimming a few areas--makes it a great reference work. It is very well indexed and clearly presented. And each time I started feeling like I was wading, I re-engaged fully at the start of the next section.

The work of environmental history expert Neil Forkey (Visiting Professor in the Canadian Studies Program, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York) Shaping The Upper Canadian Frontier: Environment, Society, And Culture In The Trent Valley substantially contributes to studies in Canadian environmental history by delving into the literature written by settler societies in Upper Canada and North America, the recorded history of Canada's Native peoples, records of environmental changes in the valleys themselves, and other primary sources. An extensively researched and documented work, Shaping The Upper Canadian Frontier is a well recommended contribution to Canadian Environmental Studies, Geology, and General History reference collections and reading lists.

In Sharing Nature's Interest: Ecological Footprints As An Indicator Of Sustainability, Nicky Chambers, Craig Simmons, and Mathis Wackernagel deftly collaborate to present the reader with a compendium of information on assessing ecology on a regional and a global basis through a process called 'ecological footprinting'. The informative text is enhanced with figures, tables, summary "boxes", a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a primer on thermodynamics, conversion tables, glossary, and an index. Sharing Nature's Interest is an important and highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and professional environmental studies reference collections and reading lists.