Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement

A dam proposal sparked the first great conservation battle in the United States when John Muir fought to safeguard Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Since then, people have worked to preserve free-flowing rivers from Florida to Alaska, and in doing so, they have changed the way natural resources are managed in America. In Endangered Rivers, Tim Palmer traces the growth of this movement and he chronicles the development of a national consciousness that values our rivers as lifelines for wildlife, fisheries, parks, wilderness, recreation, and communities. Based on careful research and hundreds of interviews, Palmer's information-packed narrative is regarded as a classic in the field of conservation. The first edition of this book is now updated and includes two new chapters that chart the course of conservation during the past twenty years and explore how the movement to protect rivers will likely change in the twenty-first century. This book will fascinate all who care about rivers and it will engage those who seek to understand environmental history, resources management, and the evolution of government programs in response to people's changing needs.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Rivers and Dams Chapter 2 A Delicate Balance Chapter 3 Changing the Flow of Water Chapter 4 The Beginnings of River Protection Chapter 5 The Movement to Save Rivers Chapter 6 National Rivers Chapter 7 Politics and the Problems of Water Development Chapter 8 A New Era Chapter 9 Needs and Alternatives Chapter 10 The Last Wealth Chapter 11 The Second Generation of River Conservation Chapter 12 Rivers in the Twenty-First Century Part 13 Sources Part 14 Organizations Involved in River Protection

About the Author :
Tim Palmer has been involved in river protection since 1970 as a writer, photographer, planner, conservationist, speaker, and consultant. He is the author of 14 books on rivers and conservation, and speaks frequently to college classes and public audiences nationwide.

Review :
A deft mix of history, painstakingly accurate research, and insightful comment on the politics and policy of river conservation . . . as much a classic in its field as was Rachel Carson's Silent Spring or Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac. Palmer is an eloquent river advocate and an insightful historian. Endangered Rivers is an important contribution to environmental history, placing river protection within the broader conservation movement for the first time. Tim Palmer tells the story of river conservation better than anyone else. This vitally needed and meticulous update of our movement's history comes just in time for the biggest battles yet. Everyone who cares about saving a river they love should keep a copy of Endangered Rivers handy for inspiration. This work is a great source for environmental statistics. . . . This volume will continue to be a standard environmental resource for another 20 years. Recommended. An excellent historical overview of rivers as a whole . . . should be considered [an] essential addition to any college-level collection. Rivers have played a major role in giving form to the American conservation movement, and perhaps the single most enduring virtue of Tim Palmer's book is that he documents this fact with greater clarity and detail than anyone before him has ever attempted; he has written what can only be described as the definitive work on the subject. A tremendously important addition to the literature of conservation.