Wildlife Research and Management in the National Parks
Wildlife Research and Management in the National Parks

Author: R. Gerald Wright

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780252018244

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Should the wolf be reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park? Should hunting of "overabundant" deer and elk be permitted in some parks? How should grizzly bears be managed in frequently visited areas? Are mountain goats to be eliminated from Olympic National Park? R. Gerald Wright probes these and other issues of public interest in this exploration of the unique role national parks have played in the protection, study, and management of animal life. Controversy has often surrounded wildlife management, primarily when societal attitudes toward specific animals do not mesh with Park Service practices. Those practices are influenced by the public as well as by the evolution of a program of scientific study in the national parks. As park environments are increasingly threatened by growing numbers of visitors, outside land-use changes, and pollution, it is more important than ever that scientific knowledge, administrative willingness, and public support combine to help create the policies necessary for appropriate management and protection of park resources. Wright traces the history of wildlife management in the U.S. national parks, bringing together a diversity of literature and previously unpublished information that will be of concern to wildlife and land-management specialists, conservationists, and all those interested in our national parks.

Preserving Nature in the National Parks
Preserving Nature in the National Parks

Author: Richard West Sellars

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 0300154143

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This book traces the epic clash of values between traditional scenery-and-tourism management and emerging ecological concepts in the national parks, America's most treasured landscapes. It spans the period from the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 to near the present, analyzing the management of fires, predators, elk, bear, and other natural phenomena in parks such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains. Based largely on original documents never before researched, this is the most thorough history of the national parks ever written. Focusing on the decades after the National Park Service was established in 1916, the author reveals the dynamics of policy formulation and change, as landscape architects, foresters, wildlife biologists, and other Park Service professionals contended for dominance and shaped the attitudes and culture of the Service. The book provides a fresh look at the national parks and an analysis of why the Service has not responded in full faith to the environmental concerns of recent times. Richard West Sellars, a historian with the National Park Service, has become uniquely familiar with the history, culture, and dynamics of the Service?including its biases, internal alliances and rivalries, self-image, folklore, and rhetoric. The book will prove indispensable for environmental and governmental specialists and for general readers seeking an in-depth analysis of one of America's most admired federal bureaus.