Braided Waters sheds new light on the relationship between environment and society by charting the history of Hawaii’s Molokai island over a thousand-year period of repeated settlement. From the arrival of the first Polynesians to contact with eighteenth-century European explorers and traders to our present era, this study shows how the control of resources—especially water—in a fragile, highly variable environment has had profound effects on the history of Hawaii. Wade Graham examines the ways environmental variation repeatedly shapes human social and economic structures and how, in turn, man-made environmental degradation influences and reshapes societies. A key finding of this study is how deep structures of place interact with distinct cultural patterns across different societies to produce similar social and environmental outcomes, in both the Polynesian and modern eras—a case of historical isomorphism with profound implications for global environmental history.
This dissertation examines the interaction between environment and society on a mid-sized oceanic island that has experienced repeated cycles of settlement over a 1,600-year period. It seeks to understand how environmental degradation is caused by economic and social activity and how it in turn influences and shapes them. It looks at the central role played by variation in the availability of water and the control of water resources in the history of Molokai, and by extension, the other Hawaiian Islands.
Fossilized dinosaur bones. Caribou tracks, both ancient and new. Wide open spaces. Vast migrations... The National Petroleum Reserve -- Alaska is more than a natural resource -- it's a place of rare, unprotected beauty * Full color conservation advocacy book features essays from Arctic authorities such as Bruce Babbitt, Jack Horner, Jeff Fair, and more. * Published in collaboration with the Alaska Wilderness League Originally set aside by President Harding in 1923 as a back-up resource for military fuel needs, the National Petroleum Reserve -- Alaska is home to half a million migrating caribou, countless migrating birds from all over the world, and, surprisingly, one of the largest Polar dinosaur fossil beds in the Arctic. The Reserve is also the largest piece of undisturbed public land in the United States -- yet few outside of Alaska have ever heard of it. On Arctic Ground, from Braided River, the conservation imprint of Mountaineers Books, features a series of vignettes written by well-loved Alaskan author Debbie S. Miller (Midnight Wilderness) about the astonishing array of wildlife she has encountered over many seasons exploring the Reserve. Additionally, former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt writes the book's preface, drawing on his years of experience managing both the economic and biological resources of the Reserve. Miller's vignettes are accompanied by images from an array of award-winning conservation photographers. The book also features essays and insight from Alaskan writers and science authorities -- including wildlife biologist Jeff Fair and senior Audubon Alaska scientist John Schoen -- as well as an essay and audio download by noted Alaska writer and soundscape artist Richard Nelson. Paleontologists Jack Horner and Patrick Druckenmiller share the most recent research and remarkable discoveries associated with dinosaur studies in the Alaskan Arctic. This book will serve as a platform to bring greater public awareness to the opportunities for permanently preserving the significant biological areas and wildlife that thrive within the Reserve. Braided River will collaborate with the Alaska Wilderness League to bring this story to members of Congress, the media, and the general public. Visit www.braidedriver.org to learn more.
Puget Sound is a magnificent and intricate estuary, the very core of life in Western Washington. Yet it's also a place of broader significance: rivers rush from the Cascade and Olympic mountains and Canada's coastal ranges through varied watersheds to feed the Sound, which forms the southern portion of a complex, international ecosystem known as the Salish Sea. A rich, life-sustaining home shared by two countries, as well as 50-plus Native American Tribes and First Nations, the Salish Sea is also a huge economic engine, with outdoor recreation and commercial shellfish harvesting alone worth $10.2 billion. But this spectacular inland sea is suffering. Pollution and habitat loss, human population growth, ocean acidification, climate change, and toxins from wastewater and storm runoff present formidable challenges. We Are Puget Sound amplifies the voices and ideas behind saving Puget Sound, and it will help engage and inspire citizens around the region to join together to preserve its ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it.
