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.
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
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.
"Fascinating and richly documented. Focusing on two states that have captured the popular imagination, Natural States combines environmental, political and cultural history, with political economy added for leavening."
– David J. Vail, Bowdoin College
"The most engaging piece I have read so far about the history of the environmental movement since World War II. The themes are relevant to any American landscape, even those where you can't smell the sea."
– Jan Albers, author of Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape