Product Description

This work presents a history of the debates among ecologists over what constitutes good forestry. It offers a critique of contemporary strategies of preservation, including the Endangered Species Act and examples of conservation strategies successful and unsuccessful.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #882711 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 535 pages

Customer Reviews

eye-opening clear analysis that changed my views
Until reading "In a Dark Wood" I espoused "politically correct" environmentalist views -- such as "all old growth forests must be saved at any cost from evil logging" -- in a knee-jerk, emotionally charged, self-righteous way, without ever taking the trouble to study or think through what was really at stake, and what premises about reality underlay my views. Alston Chase's thinking on conservation is so clearly presented, so well backed by evidence, so carefully analysed, and so full of good will and integrity, that I find it impossible to read his book without respecting his intentions -- and his conclusions, which challenge everything I had unthinkingly assumed in the past. This is the kind of book that not only addresses concrete problems, such as the political struggle between, say Earth First and Maxxam Corporation, but also inspires the reader to think more deeply, and question his/her assumptions. This is the kind of book I think most self-labeled "environmentalists" -- especially those who come from white, middle class, college-educated backgrounds -- will dismiss prior to investigation, and will never read. If so, it is a sad loss. It's a book that can change your views and help you learn to think better -- and I believe most people would rather not do so, since thinking better might well spoil the dramatic excitement of waging a war of good against evil, nature against humanity. Still, I hope people will read this book. It's one that changed my life.