Bøger af Char Miller

Endangered ecosystem or renewable resource? How we feel about forests has to do with more than trees. This interdisciplinary collection of essays examines the history of forestry in the United States, exploring the impact of the discipline on natural and human landscapes since the mid-nineteenth century. Through important articles that have helped define the field, it assesses the development of the forestry profession and the U.S. Forest Service, analyzes the political and scientific controversies that have marked forestry's evolution, and discloses the transformations in America's commitment to its forested estate. American Forests highlights the intersection of the political, social, and environmental forces that have determined the use and abuse of American forests. It examines changes both in the assumptions that have defined forest management and in the scientific approach to--and political justification for--timber harvesting in our national forests. It sheds light on the ongoing debate between utilization and conservation, addressing arguments from environmentalists, the timber industry, sportsmen, and politicians while exploring the interaction between public opinion and public policy. It provides sharp insights into the most important players in the politics of forestry, from George Perkins Marsh and Berhard Fernow to Gifford Pinchot and Teddy Roosevelt. And it addresses issues as wide-ranging as budgeting, clearcutting, and the regulation of livestock grazing on national forest lands. This multifaceted volume draws on the insights of scholars in conservation and ecology, economics, history, law, and political science to make a definitive contribution to the study and practice of forestry. By both clarifying and extending recent debate about the political purpose, scientific character, and environmental rationales of forestry in America, it will help define the place of forests in our future.

Natural Consequences is a collection of forty-two environmental essays by Char Miller, Professor of Environmental Analysis & History at Pomona College in Southern California. These essays variously encourage readers to get out in nature, to take a hike and restore our relationship to the land in order to better recognize the challenges of climate change. Collected into six sections, these personal narratives explore the threats of fire, drought, development, and fracking. Char Miller is well aware of climate change and the ecological degradation developed nations are causing. From personal experiences in his Southern California neighborhood or through his travel, Char Miller explores the damage of the dominant cultures on the environment and the need to address environmental injustice. His thoughtful vignettes and fascinating historical interpretations clearly lay out our challenges. Willing to admit his own role in our worldwide crisis, Char Miller's essays offer local, regional, and global solutions to reduce the natural consequences of our actions.

Covering a broad array of topics and reflecting the continuing diversity within the field of environmental history, this work begins with three theoretical pieces probing the assumptions that underlie the works and ideas historians use to analyze human interaction with the physical world.

The 1921 flood that put a spotlight on environmental and social inequality in a southwestern city

The first comprehensive study of the park, past and present, Death Valley National Park probes the environmental and human history of this most astonishing desert. Established as a national monument in 1933, Death Valley was an anomaly within the national park system. Though many who knew this landscape were convinced that its stark beauty should be preserved, to do so required a reconceptualization of what a park consists of, grassroots and national support for its creation, and a long and difficult political struggle to secure congressional sanction.This history begins with a discussion of the physical setting, its geography and geology, and descriptions of the Timbisha, the first peoples to inhabit this tough and dangerous landscape. In the 19th-century and early 20th century, new arrivals came to exploit the mineral resources in the region and develop permanent agricultural and resort settlements. Although Death Valley was established as a National Monument in 1933, fear of the harsh desert precluded widespread acceptance by both the visiting public and its own administrative agency. As a result, Death Valley lacked both support and resources. This volume details the many debates over the park's size, conflicts between miners, farmers, the military, and wilderness advocates, the treatment of the Timbisha, and the impact of tourists on its cultural and natural resources.In time, Death Valley came to be seen as one of the great natural wonders of the United States, and was elevated to full national park status in 1994. The history of Death Valley National Park embodies the many tensions confronting American environmentalism.

Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism, the first new biography in more than three decades, offers a fresh interpretation of the life and work of the famed conservationist and Progressive politician. In addition to considering Gifford Pinchot's role in the environmental movement, historian Char Miller sets forth an engaging description and analysis of the man -- his character, passions, and personality -- and the larger world through which he moved.Char Miller begins by describing Pinchot's early years and the often overlooked influence of his family and their aspirations for him. He examines Gifford Pinchot's post-graduate education in France and his ensuing efforts in promoting the profession of forestry in the United States and in establishing and running the Forest Service. While Pinchot's twelve years as chief forester (1898-1910) are the ones mhistorians and biographers focus on, Char Miller also offers an extensive examination of Pinchot's post-federal career as head of The National Conservation Association and as two-term governor of Pennsylvania. In addition, he looks at Pinchot's marriage to feminist Cornelia Bryce and discusses her role in Pinchot's political radicalization throughout the 1920s and 1930s. An epilogue explores Gifford Pinchot's final years and writings.Char Miller offers a provocative reconsideration of key events in Pinchot's life, including his relationship with friend and mentor John Muir and their famous disagreemover damming Hetch Hetchy Valley. The author brings together insights from cultural and social history and recently discovered primary sources to support a new interpretation of Pinchot -- whose activism not only helped define environmental politics in early twentieth century America but remains strikingly relevant today.

Presents a general history of San Antonio. Its past is complex and ranges across 300 years, from its origins as a tiny Spanish frontier town to its contemporary status as an American mega-city. This study weaves together the environmental, social, political, and cultural pressures that have shaped life in the city over the last three centuries.

Leading environmental historian Char Miller looks below the surface of Californiäs ecological history to expose some of its less glittering conundrums

A timely book that deals with regional identity and the subject of limited water resources in our age of pronounced droughts

The outdoor enthusiast's dream bucket list is embodied in this illustrated celebration of our greatest national forests, from Alaska to Florida.

He views the contributions of Pinchot family members, from the institute's initial conception by Pinchot's son, Gifford Bryce Pinchot, through the family's ongoing participation in current conservation programming.

Miller shows how government institutions changed the meaning of American citizenship during the World War II era.