Natural States The Environmental Imagination in Maine, Oregon, and the Nation

About this book

Contrasting preservationist, romantic, pastoral, nostalgic, and utilitarian concepts of nature, the authors explore the public expression of these ideals in post-World War II politics. Natural States argues that, in both states and the U.S. as a whole, the greatest success of the environmental movement came when it was informed by a local, grassroots activism that viewed nature as a common good that should be shared by all.

Contents

Preface

1. Folk and Nature: Pastoral Landscapes in the Postwar World
2. Politicizing the Pastoral Ideal: The Clean-Waters Campaigns
3. Rivers, Wildness, and Redemptive Play: Preserving the Rogue and the Allagash
4. Saving Naturei? s Icons: The Maine Coast and Oregon Beaches
5. Navigating the Natural State: Nature, Recreation, and River Corridor Planning
6. Bridge to Ecotopia: Local Control and Statewide Land-Use Planning
7. A View Across the Golf Links: Pastoralism in an Era of Declining Civic Engagement
8. The Environmental Imagination and the Future of the Environmental Movement

Notes
Index
About the Authors
Photography Credits

Customer Reviews

Biography

Richard W. Judd is a professor of history at the University of Maine and author of Common Lands, Common People: The Origins of Conservation in Northern New England (1997).

Christopher S. Beach is an assistant professor of history and the humanities at Unity College in Maine.