The Wilderness Writings of Howard Zahniser
The Wilderness Writings of Howard Zahniser

Author: Mark W. T. Harvey

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2014-07-01

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0295805153

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Howard Zahniser (1906–1964), executive secretary of The Wilderness Society and editor of The Living Wilderness from 1945 to 1964, is arguably the person most responsible for drafting and promoting the Wilderness Act in 1964. The act, which created the National Wilderness Preservation System, was the culmination of Zahniser’s years of tenacious lobbying and his work with conservationists across the nation. In 1964, fifty-four wilderness areas in thirteen states were part of the system; today the number has grown to 757 areas, protecting more than a hundred million acres in forty-four states and Puerto Rico. Zahniser’s passion for wild places and his arguments for their preservation were communicated through radio addresses, magazine articles, speeches, and congressional testimony. An eloquent and often poetic writer, he seized every opportunity to make the case for the value of wilderness to people, communities, and the nation. Despite his unquestioned importance and the power of his prose, the best of Zahniser's wilderness writings have never before been gathered in a single volume. This indispensable collection makes available in one place essays and other writings that played a vital role in persuading Congress and the American people that wilderness in the United States deserved permanent protection.

Wilderness Forever
Wilderness Forever

Author: Mark W. T. Harvey

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2009-11-23

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0295989823

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winner of the Forest History Society's 2006 Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Book Award As a central figure in the American wilderness preservation movement in the mid-twentieth century, Howard Zahniser (1906-1964) was the person most responsible for the landmark Wilderness Act of 1964. While the rugged outdoorsmen of the earlyenvironmental movement, such as John Muir and Bob Marshall, gave the cause a charismatic face, Zahniser strove to bring conservation's concerns into the public eye and the preservationists' plans to fruition. In many fights to save besieged wild lands, he pulled together fractious coalitions, built grassroots support networks, wooed skittish and truculent politicians, and generated streams of eloquent prose celebrating wilderness. Zahniser worked for the Bureau of Biological Survey (a precursor to the Fish and Wildlife Service) and the Department of the Interior, wrote for Nature magazine, and eventually managed the Wilderness Society and edited its magazine, Living Wilderness. The culmination of his wilderness writing and political lobbying was the Wilderness Act of 1964. All of its drafts included his eloquent definition of wilderness, which still serves as a central tenet for the Wilderness Society: "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." The bill was finally signed into law shortly after his death. Pervading his tireless work was a deeply held belief in the healing powers of nature for a humanity ground down by the mechanized hustle-bustle of modern, urban life. Zahniser grew up in a family of Methodist ministers, and although he moved away from any specific denomination, a spiritual outlook informed his thinking about wilderness. His love of nature was not so much a result of scientific curiosity as a sense of wonder at its beauty and majesty, and a wish to exist in harmony with all other living things. In this deeply researched and affectionate portrait, Mark Harvey brings to life this great leader of environmental activism.

The Man Who Built the Sierra Club
The Man Who Built the Sierra Club

Author: Robert Wyss

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2016-06-07

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 0231541317

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

David Brower (1912–2000) was a central figure in the modern environmental movement. His leadership, vision, and elegant conception of the wilderness forever changed how we approach nature. In many ways, he was a twentieth-century Thoreau. Brower transformed the Sierra Club into a national force that challenged and stopped federally sponsored projects that would have dammed the Grand Canyon and destroyed hundreds of millions of acres of our nation's wilderness. To admirers, he was tireless, passionate, visionary, and unyielding. To opponents and even some supporters, he was contentious and polarizing. As a young man growing up in Berkeley, California, Brower proved himself a fearless climber of the Sierra Nevada's dangerous peaks. After serving in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II, he became executive director of the Sierra Club. This uncompromising biography explores Brower's role as steward of the modern environmental movement. His passionate advocacy destroyed lifelong friendships and, at times, threatened his goals. Yet his achievements remain some of the most important triumphs of the conservation movement. What emerges from this unique portrait is a rich and robust profile of a leader who took up the work of John Muir and, along with Rachel Carson, made environmentalism the cause of our time.

The First Born
The First Born

Author: William Arket

Publisher: www.thefirstbornarket.com

Published: 2005-08

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1594573026

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First Born tells the story of Frank Arket, an average guy who becomes an American hero as he struggles to escape from the steel mills of Pennsylvania and embarks upon a career in the U.S. Army and military intelligence. Born to a pair of star-crossed teenage lovers, Frank struggles to survive a childhood marred by the tragic deaths of both his parents. He desperately wants to escape from the grind and filth of his hometown, marry the girl of his dreams, and live happily ever after. However, a family curse declares all first born Arket children will suffer horrible fates. Frank is drafted into the Army shortly before America enters World War II. He travels to Europe with the Army's 63rd Division and later becomes involved in military intelligence. During the day, he protects presidents and powerful Army secrets. At night, he returns home to his family and "normal life," the curse ever present in his mind.