Force of nature : George Fell, founder of the natural areas movement / Arthur Melville Pearson ; [Foreword by Peter R. Crane].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pearson, Arthur Melville, author.

Crane, Peter R., author of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fell, George B.

Nature Conservancy (U.S.)--History.

Nature Conservancy (U.S.).

Natural Areas Association (U.S.)--History.

Natural Areas Association (U.S.).

Illinois Nature Preserves Commission--History.

Illinois Nature Preserves Commission.

Natural Land Institute (Rockford, Ill.)--History.

Natural Land Institute (Rockford, Ill.).

Natural areas--Illinois--History.

Natural areas.

Nature conservation--Illinois--History.

Nature conservation.

Conservationists--Illinois--Biography.

Conservationists.

Natural areas--United States--History.

Nature conservation--United States--History.

History.

United States.

Illinois.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xx, 194 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2017]

Summary:

Efforts to preserve wild places in the United States began with the allure of scenic grandeur: Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon. But what about the many significant natural sites too small or fragile to qualify as state or federal parks? George Fell was determined to save these places, too-prairie remnants, upland forests, sedge meadows and fens, ocean beaches, desert canyons, mountain creeks, bogs, caves and gorges, and the full spectrum of other habitats essential to biological diversity. Force of Nature reveals how a failed civil servant, with few assets apart from his tenacity and vision, initiated the natural areas movement. In the boom years following World War II, as undeveloped lands were being mined, drained, or bulldozed, Fell transformed a loose band of ecologists into The Nature Conservancy, drove the passage of the influential Illinois Nature Preserves Act, and helped spark allied local and national conservation organizations in the United States and beyond. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 From the Bend of a Beautiful River to the Alcatraz of Conscientious Objector Camps 6

2 Threatened Lands, Living Museums 32

3 The Nature Conservancy: Setting Up the Necessary Structure Ourselves 53

4 The Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act: If at First You Don't Succeed ... 92

5 The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission: Where Once We Were Opportunists 113

6 Sowing More Acorns, Fighting More Battles 141.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780299312305

0299312305

OCLC:

959200408