Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology And Wonder In The Last Wilderness - Softcover

Schullery, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0972152210 ISBN 13: 9780972152211

Publisher: Montana Historical Society Press, 2004

Synopsis

Schullery's book details the ecological history of Yellowstone National Park.

About this title

Review:

In 1997 Yellowstone celebrated its 125th anniversary as a national park, the keystone in the federal system of reserved and protected places. The celebration was somewhat marred by debates over wolf reintroduction, road improvement, resort building, and "bioprospecting," the search for economically useful plant materials. Paul Schullery, a longtime resident and student of the park, tells us that such debates are not new. In his deeply personal yet sweeping history of Yellowstone, he shows that the place known from the start as "Wonderland" has always been the subject of pro- and anti-development forces, has always been seen through sometimes bitterly contrasting points of view. With balance and grace, Schullery weaves his narrative through countless such arguments, noting that "Today's parks, for all the press of humanity lined up to get in, still seem short of friends, or at least lacking in just the right combination of friends to ensure adequate budgets and reasonable protection." His fine book may help widen Yellowstone's circle of champions.

From the Back Cover:

Yellowstone National Park is beloved passionately and, as with all objects of passion, it generates heated feelings and has for over 125 years. Created in 1872, Yellowstone has been at the center of efforts to conserve the nation's once vast western wilderness. In turn Yellowstone's history has demonstrated how complex those efforts to conserve it have been. As Schullery writes, "We inherited this great humming thing . . . Ever since then we have imagined ourselves wise enough to control it and have rushed to judge what is wrong with it. And every time we looked hard enough, we discovered that there was more wrong with our judgment than with Yellowstone."

This marvelously detailed book skillfully and objectively traces the park's social and ecological history from Pleistocene times to the present. Searching for Yellowstone is an absolute "must read" for anyone wanting to understand why the park is engraved in the American consciousness.

About this edition

• Publisher: Montana Historical Society Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0972152210
• ISBN 13: 9780972152211
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360