The rise of the American conservation movement: power, privilege, and environmental protection

Key concepts informing early conservation thought -- Wealthy people and the city : an ambivalent relationship -- Wealth, manliness, and exploring the outdoors : racial and gender dynamics -- Wealth, women, and outdoor pursuits -- People of color : access to and control of resources -- Sport hunting, scarcity, and wildlife protection -- Blaming women, immigrants, and minorities for bird destruction -- Challenging wildlife regulations and understanding the business-conservation connections -- Rural beautification and forest conservation : gender, class, and corporate dynamics -- Preservation, conservation, and business interests collide -- National park preservation, racism, and business relations -- Nation building, racial exclusion, and the social construction of wildlands.;In this sweeping social history Dorceta E. Taylor examines the emergence and rise of the multifaceted U.S. conservation movement from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century. She shows how race, class, and gender influenced every aspect of the movement, including the establishment of parks; campaigns to protect wild game, birds, and fish; forest conservation; outdoor recreation; and the movement's links to nineteenth-century ideologies. Initially led by white urban elites--whose early efforts discriminated against the lower class and were often tied up with slavery and the appropriation of Native lands--the movement benefited from contributions to policy making, knowledge about the environment, and activism by the poor and working class, people of color, women, and Native Americans.