From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain A History of Environmental Change in Temperate North America from 1500 to the Present

About this book

An account of the making of the American landscape following European settlement. Drawing upon land survey records and early travellers' accounts, the author reconstructs the `virgin' forests and grasslands of the northeastern and central US during the presettlement period, then describes the clearance and fragmentation of the region's woodlands, the ploughing of the prairies, and the drainage of wetlands.

Contents

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Conversion of English to metric units; US state abbreviations; Common and scientific names of trees mentioned in the text; Photographic essay illustrating the character and the demise of the pre-settlement vegetation of the Northeast and the Midwest; 1. Introduction; 2. Reconstructing the past; 3. Nature imposes ...; 4. The forest primeval; 5. Preservers of the ecological balance wheel; 6. European precedents; 7. Assault upon the forest, part I: the farmer; 8. Assault upon the forest, part II: the lumber industry; 9. Assault upon the forest, part III: fuel-wood; 10. Predatory agriculture; 11. Grassland agriculture; 12. Forest influences; 13. A transported flora; 14. An impoverished fauna; 15. The legislated landscape; 16. Conclusion; References; Index.

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