Revolution on the Range

by White, Courtney

• ISBN13: 9781597261746
• ISBN10: 1597261742
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-23
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

In the final decade of the twentieth century, the American West was at war. Battle lines had hardened, with environmentalists squarely on one side of the fence, and ranchers on the other. By the mid-1990s, debates over the region's damaged land had devolved into political wrangling, bitter lawsuits, and even death-threats. Conventional wisdom told us those who wanted to work the land and those who wanted to protect it had fundamentally different-and irreconcilable-values.In Revolution on the Range, Courtney White challenges that truism, heralding stories from a new American West where cattle and conservation go hand in hand. He argues that ranchers and environmentalists have more in common than they've typically admitted: a love of wildlife, a deep respect for nature, and a strong allergic reaction to suburbanization. The real conflict has not been over ethics, but approaches. Today, a new brand of ranching is bridging the divide by mimicking nature while still turning a profit.Westerners are literally reinventing the ranch by confronting their own assumptions about nature, profitability, and each other. Ranchers are learning that new ideas can actually help preserve traditional lifestyles. Environmentalists are learning that protected landscapes aren't always healthier than working ones. White, a self-proclaimed middle-class city boy, has learned there's more to ranching than grit and cowboy boots.The author's own transformation from conflict-oriented environmentalist to radical centrist mirrors the change sweeping the region. As ranchers and environmentalists find common cause, they're discovering new ways to live on-and preserve-the land they both love. Revolution on the Range is the story of that journey, and a heartening vision of the new American West.

Author Biography

Courtney White is cofounder and executive director of The Quivira Coalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building bridges between ranchers, conservationists, public land managers, scientists, and others. A former archaeologist and Sierra Club activist, White now devotes himself to land restoration.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. xi
The New Ranch
The New Ranch	p. 5
Replenishing Soil and People	p. 30
Getting into the Game	p. 42
Interlude: Ranching with Wildlife	p. 54
Out of Cowboy Island	p. 59
Changing the World	p. 68
The Working Wilderness
The Working Wilderness	p. 83
Goals that Unite	p. 101
Quid Pro Quo	p. 113
Interlude: A Macho Failure	p. 126
Thinking Like a Creek	p. 131
The Gift	p. 144
The Big Picture
Across Boundaries	p. 159
Useful Science	p. 170
Ceaseless Change	p. 179
Interlude: Seeing the Forest and the Trees	p. 185
Mugido	p. 189
Acknowledgments	p. 203
Selected Bibliography	p. 207
Index	p. 209
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.