Char Miller, who grew up in Darien, CT, received his BA from Pitzer College, and his MA and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University. For 26 wonderful years, he taught U. S. history and urban studies at Trinity University in San Antonio. Now he directs the Environmental Analysis Program at Pomona College (Claremont CA), where he is the W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis. Miller has served as a Contributing Writer for the Texas Observer, and as Associate Editor of Environmental History and the Journal of Forestry. He is a Senior Fellow at the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, and writes a column for KCET (Los Angeles), entitled Golden Green, which focuses on environmental issues in California and the west.

"One of the environmental history profession's most thoughtful and astute observers (not to mention most graceful writers) shares with us his accumulated wisdom about the pasts and presents of places her has come to know deeply...Wise, witty, and intriguing."-Environmental History

• Introduction: Center Points 1. Alamo City White Gold City Brew Organizing for War Political Legend Buyer's Remorse Danger: Work Ahead Holy Moses! Repairing Eden Springtime Central Core Going for Green Ebb and Flow Back to Nature 2. Rough Waters Rough Waters Storm Warning Ike's Wake 3. Borderline Anxieties Fiery Deaths Lockup Highway Robbery Homeland Insecurity Why Friendship Park Mattered Praise Song Political Agency Bulldozing Nature Behind Bars Walled Off Just Litter Wandering in the Wilderness 4. Southland On Fire Up in Smoke Sliding Away Shaken and Stirred On the Wild Side Forget the Garden of Eden Let It Be Damaged Desert Step Back Net Loss Shady Dealings Breathe Deep Pumped Dry Course Correction Mud Fight Afterword: Homeward Bound Acknowledgments

Char Miller, who grew up in Darien, CT, received his BA from Pitzer College, and his MA and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University. For 26 wonderful years, he taught U. S. history and urban studies at Trinity University in San Antonio. Now he directs the Environmental Analysis Program at Pomona College (Claremont CA), where he is the W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis. Miller has served as a Contributing Writer for the Texas Observer, and as Associate Editor of Environmental History and the Journal of Forestry. He is a Senior Fellow at the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, and writes a column for KCET (Los Angeles), entitled Golden Green, which focuses on environmental issues in California and the west.

"One of the environmental history profession's most thoughtful and astute observers (not to mention most graceful writers) shares with us his accumulated wisdom about the pasts and presents of places her has come to know deeply...Wise, witty, and intriguing."-Environmental History

• Introduction: Center Points 1. Alamo City White Gold City Brew Organizing for War Political Legend Buyer's Remorse Danger: Work Ahead Holy Moses! Repairing Eden Springtime Central Core Going for Green Ebb and Flow Back to Nature 2. Rough Waters Rough Waters Storm Warning Ike's Wake 3. Borderline Anxieties Fiery Deaths Lockup Highway Robbery Homeland Insecurity Why Friendship Park Mattered Praise Song Political Agency Bulldozing Nature Behind Bars Walled Off Just Litter Wandering in the Wilderness 4. Southland On Fire Up in Smoke Sliding Away Shaken and Stirred On the Wild Side Forget the Garden of Eden Let It Be Damaged Desert Step Back Net Loss Shady Dealings Breathe Deep Pumped Dry Course Correction Mud Fight Afterword: Homeward Bound Acknowledgments