Nature's ghosts : confronting extinction from the age of Jefferson to the age of ecology / by Mark V. Barrow, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barrow, Mark V., 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wildlife conservation--United States--History.

Endangered species--Law and legislation--United States--History.

Extinction (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (511 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The rapid growth of the American environmental movement in recent decades obscures the fact that long before the first Earth Day and the passage of the Endangered Species Act, naturalists and concerned citizens recognized-and worried about-the problem of human-caused extinction. As Mark V. Barrow reveals in Nature's Ghosts, the threat of species loss has haunted Americans since the early days of the republic. From Thomas Jefferson's day-when the fossil remains of such fantastic lost animals as the mastodon and the woolly mammoth were first reconstructed-through the pioneering conservation efforts of early naturalists like John James Audubon and John Muir, Barrow shows how Americans came to understand that it was not only possible for entire species to die out, but that humans themselves could be responsible for their extinction. With the destruction of the passenger pigeon and the precipitous decline of the bison, professional scientists and wildlife enthusiasts alike began to understand that even very common species were not safe from the juggernaut of modern, industrial society. That realization spawned public education and legislative campaigns that laid the foundation for the modern environmental movement and the preservation of such iconic creatures as the bald eagle, the California condor, and the whooping crane. A sweeping, beautifully illustrated historical narrative that unites the fascinating stories of endangered animals and the dedicated individuals who have studied and struggled to protect them, Nature's Ghosts offers an unprecedented view of what we've lost-and a stark reminder of the hard work of preservation still ahead.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

ONE. BONES OF CONTENTION

TWO. PARADISE LOST

THREE. SOUNDING THE ALARM ABOUT CONTINENT-WIDE WILDLIFE EXTINCTION

FOUR. NATIONALISM, NOSTALGIA, AND THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE BISON

FIVE. GOING GLOBAL

SIX. THE LATIN AMERICAN TURN

SEVEN. ENTER ECOLOGY

EIGHT. RECONSIDERING RAPTORS DURING THE INTERWAR YEARS

NINE. SALVATION THROUGH SCIENCE?

TEN. "THE NATION'S FIRST RESPONSIBILITY"

CONCLUSION

NOTES

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786613078292

9781283078290

1283078295

9780226038155

0226038157

OCLC:

713010294