Keeping the Wild: Against the Domestication of Earth

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-261) and index. Biographical Note: George Wuerthner is the ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, where he does research and writes about environmental issues. For many years he was a full-time freelance photographer and writer and has published thirty-five books on natural history, conservation history, ecology, and environmental issues. Eileen Crist teaches at Virginia Tech in the Department of Science and Technology in Society, where she is advisor for the undergraduate program Humanities, Science, and Environment. She is author of "Images of Animals: Anthropomorphism" and "Animal Mind" and coeditor of "Gaia in Turmoil: Climate Change, Biodepletion, and Earth Ethics in an Age of Crisis."Tom Butler, a Vermont-based conservation activist and writer, is the board president of the Northeast Wilderness Trust and the former longtime editor of Wild Earth journal. His books include "Wildlands Philanthropy, Plundering Appalachia," and "ENERGY: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth."Brief Description: Is it time to embrace the so-called "Anthropocene"--the age of human dominion--and to abandon tried-and-true conservation tools such as parks and wilderness areas? Is the future of Earth to be fully domesticated, an engineered global garden managed by technocrats to serve humanity? The schism between advocates of rewilding and those who accept and even celebrate a "post-wild" world is arguably the hottest intellectual battle in contemporary conservation. In "Keeping the Wild," a group of prominent scientists, writers, and conservation activists responds to the Anthropocene-boosters who claim that wild nature is no more (or in any case not much worth caring about), that human-caused extinction is acceptable, and that "novel ecosystems" are an adequate replacement for natural landscapes. With rhetorical fists swinging, the book's contributors argue that these "new environmentalists" embody the hubris of the managerial mindset and offer a conservation strategy that will fail to protect life in all its buzzing, blossoming diversity. With essays from Eileen Crist, David Ehrenfeld, Dave Foreman, Lisi Krall, Harvey Locke, Curt Meine, Kathleen Dean Moore, Michael Soule, Terry Tempest Williams and other leading thinkers, "Keeping the Wild" provides an introduction to this important debate, a critique of the Anthropocene boosters' attack on traditional conservation, and unapologetic advocacy for wild nature. Review Quotes: ""Keeping the Wild: Against the Domestication of Earth" is an extraordinarily important book. It identifies the great and irreversible damage to Earth's biodiversity that will follow if the 'Anthropocene' ideology is allowed to stall the global conservation effort."--Edward O. Wilson "University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University "Review Quotes: "As an account of underlying concepts, the history of ideas, and neo-green philosophy...this book is outstanding."--Stuart Pimm ""Biological Conservation" "Table of Contents: Introduction: Lives Not Our Own / Tom Butler -- Part 1. Clashing Worldviews -- Rise of the Neo-greens / Paul Kingsnorth -- The Conceptual Assassination of Wilderness / David W. Kidner -- Ptolemaic Environmentalism / Eileen Crist -- With Friends Like These, Wilderness and Biodiversity Do Not Need Enemies / David Johns -- What's So New about the New Conservation? Curt Maine -- Conservation in No-Mans-Land / Claudio Campagna, Daniel Guevara -- The New Conservation Michael Soule -- Part 2. Against Domestication -- The Fable of Managed Earth / David Ehrenfeld -- Conservation in the Anthropocene / Tim Caro, Jack Darwin, Tavis Forrester, Cynthia Ledoux-Bloom, Caitlin Wells -- The Myth of the Humanized Pre-Columbian Landscape / Dave Foreman -- The Future of Conservation: An Australian Perspective / Brendan Mackey -- Expanding Parks, Reducing Human Numbers, and Preserving All the Wild Nature We Can: A Superior Alternative to Embracing the Anthropocene Era / Philip Cafaro -- Green Postmodernism and the Attempted Highjacking of Conservation / Harvey Locke -- Why the Working Landscape Isn't Working / George Wuerthner -- Valuing Naturalness in the Anthropocene: Now More than Ever / Ned Hettinger -- Part 3. The Value of the Wild -- Wild World / Roderick Frazier Nash -- Living Beauty / Sandra Lubarsky -- Wilderness: What and Why? / Howie Wolke -- Resistance / List Krall -- An Open Letter to Major John Wesley Powell / Terry Tempest Williams -- Epilogue: The Road to Cape Perpetua / Kathleen Dean Moore -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Notes -- Index. Publisher Marketing: Is it time to embrace the so-called "Anthropocene"--the age of human dominion--and to abandon tried-and-true conservation tools such as parks and wilderness areas? Is the future of Earth to be fully domesticated, an engineered global garden managed by technocrats to serve humanity? The schism between advocates of rewilding and those who accept and even celebrate a "post-wild" world is arguably the hottest intellectual battle in contemporary conservation. In "Keeping the Wild," a group of prominent scientists, writers, and conservation activists responds to the Anthropocene-boosters who claim that wild nature is no more (or in any case not much worth caring about), that human-caused extinction is acceptable, and that "novel ecosystems" are an adequate replacement for natural landscapes. With rhetorical fists swinging, the book's contributors argue that these "new environmentalists" embody the hubris of the managerial mindset and offer a conservation strategy that will fail to protect life in all its buzzing, blossoming diversity. With essays from Eileen Crist, David Ehrenfeld, Dave Foreman, Lisi Krall, Harvey Locke, Curt Meine, Kathleen Dean Moore, Michael Soule, Terry Tempest Williams and other leading thinkers, "Keeping the Wild" provides an introduction to this important debate, a critique of the Anthropocene boosters' attack on traditional conservation, and unapologetic advocacy for wild nature. Review Citations:

Choice 11/01/2014 pg. 473 (EAN 9781610915588, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Wuerthner, George George Wuerthner has written more than 20 books, including other National Parks Visitor's Companions. He lives in Eugene, Oregon. Contributor Bio:  Crist, Eileen Eileen Crist is Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Virginia Tech, the author of "Images of Animals: Anthropomorphism and the Animal Mind, " and the coeditor of "Scientists Debate Gaia" (MIT Press, 2004). Contributor Bio:  Butler, Tom Bishop Tom Butler has been a regular contributor to Thought for the Day since 1988. He was for?eleven years?Bishop of Southwark, and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Network of Britain and Ireland.?Previously?Bishop of Leicester and, before that, ?Bishop of Willesden, he was a member of the House of Lords for fourteen years, and chaired several of the Church of England's Councils and Boards.? ?