Good Dirt: Confessions of a Conservationist

by David E. Morine, Paul Flint

Overview

The best-selling conservation classic, completely expanded, revised, and updated

 

David Morine was a briefcase conservationist specializing in human nature. During his fifteen years in charge of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy, Morine helped protect more than three million acres of wilderness, finding plenty to laugh about and learn from along the way. Here are the stories behind the deals and the people who made them—an enlightening, entertaining, occasionally unsettling look at the dirty job of keeping America clean.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762776030
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/20/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	654 KB

About the Author

David E. Morine was the head of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy from 1972 to 1990. He is the author of five books, including Two Coots in a Canoe (Globe Pequot Press). 

Editorial Reviews

A cardinal rule for the Nature Conservancy, says the author, for 16 years director of land acquisition for that respected conservation organization, is not to mix nature with business. In his efforts to garner donations of land, Morine has tallied up notable successes and a few failures, but never at the expense of his sense of humor. On one occasion he lost a major donation when he declined to capture a blacksnake; another deal was thwarted by a miniature poodle. Embarrassing moments included a skinny-dipping expedition off Santa Cruz Island with a potential donor (an heiress) and a trustee (a retired diplomat), and his grounding a boat during a tour down the Suwanneesp ok,db River, requiring everyone on board, including the dignitaries, to push it afloat. Lighthearted and upbeat, these stories, offering glimpses of the deals and trade-offs that have saved valuable land, will delight conservation-minded readers. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A former developer, Morine has dedicated the last 16 years to the Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation group dedicated to land acquisition for the purposes of saving endangered ecosystems. As vice president of that organization, he tells informative stories, e.g., about a ``less-than-honorable James G. Watt'' and his impact on the Department of the Interior. While the insights are conservation-based, the reader doesn't have to be an insider to enjoy this lightly humorous book. A good purchase for general collections of any size.-- Mary J. Nickum, Fish and Wildlife Reference Svce., Bethesda, Md.

Library Journal

YA-- The former vice president of The Nature Conservancy recalls some of the most memorable mishaps of his 18 years of involvement in acquiring land for the nonprofit organization. Wooing potential donors required facing the hazards of coping with black snakes who invaded his host's home, rafting solo in the Yukon, and encountering a miniature poodle who could ruin a potential deal. While not a tract on conservation, the message is subtly and humorously conveyed with a look at the techniques of preserving our natural areas. Some of these 19 essays and anecdotes have appeared in Sports Illustrated, American Forests, and Down East. -- Julia M. Losinski, formerly at Prince George's County Memorial Library Systems, Hyattsville, MD

School Library Journal

"Morine shares his most difficult, embarrassing, hilarious and unpredictable moments as a shirt-and-tie deal maker in the service of an untamed natural world." —New York Times Book Review "This is funny stuff." —The Bloomsbury Review "Some of the funniest tales in the annals of conservation. .. Thoroughly enjoyable." —Booklist

From the Publisher