A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement

by Mark W. T. Harvey, William Cronon (Foreword by)

Overview

Harvey details the first major clash between conservationists and developers after World War II, the successful fight to prevent the building of Echo Park Dam. The dam on the Green River was intended to create a recreational lake in northwest Colorado and generate hydroelectric power, but would have flooded picturesque Echo Park Valley and threatened Dinosaur National Monument, straddling the Utah-Colorado border near Wyoming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295979328
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	03/01/2000
Series:	Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.89(d)
Lexile:	1680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mark W. T. Harvey is associate professor of history at North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Table of Contents

Foreword by William Cronon

Preface

Acknowledgments

The Peculiar Past of a National Monument

The Seeds of Controversy

Primeval Parks and the Wilderness Movement

"A Mere Millpond"

Searching for an Alternate Site

Wilderness for a New Generation

The Great Evaporation Controversy

The Politics of Preservation

A Symbol of Wilderness

Triumph of the Park System

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

Alfred Runte

By every standard of narrative and historical scholarship, this book is a major contribution to our understanding of protected parks and wilderness.

William L. Lang

A Symbol of Wilderness is a superb introduction to what has made the wilderness movement a significant force in 20th century environmentalism. This is a natural for classroom use.

Donald C. Jackson

"With the recent proliferation of dam-removal campaigns and rising concern over the ecological impacts of artificial reservoirs, this is a must-read for anyone-scholar, student, or general reader-seeking to comprehend the complex relationship between large-scale dams and the environmental movement."

Roderick Nash

The Echo Park controversy marks the beginning of the modern wilderness movement. Understanding it is essential for knowing the importance of wilderness in American culture.