The Future of Conservation in America

"A personal reflection based on science and firsthand experience, a primer on how we can engage and be present in the service of life with all its complexities; how natural histories embedded in America's diverse landscapes can illuminate our diverse cultural histories."--Terry Tempest Williams, from the foreword "The Future of Conservation in America is a call to action by two of the professional leaders most qualified to write it. The ongoing populist assaults on America's parks and wildlands is nothing less than a threat to a key part of our culture. Still worse, its effects will be irreversible. With authority and passion, the authors present an outline of the necessary defensive action to be undertaken now."--E. O. Wilson "I learned from my early days exploring the forests and waters of Georgia and my years in Washington, DC, that conservation is an American value that needs replenishment by each new generation. There are growing dangers to our most precious civic possessions: the air we breathe; the water we drink; and the land that sustains us. Divisive politics distract us from these common interests. The Future of Conservation in America calls for an enlightened vision for the future. The authors draw from a combined eighty years of public service in conservation and science to chart a course for a new generation of conservation action and leadership."--President Jimmy Carter

Gary E. Machlis is university professor of environmental sustainability at Clemson University and former science advisor to the director of the National Park Service. He is coeditor of Science, Conservation, and National Parks, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Jonathan B. Jarvis served for forty years with the National Park Service as ranger, biologist, superintendent, regional director, and was its eighteenth director from 2009 to 2017.