The Father of American Conservation

Thom Hatch

Description

Award-winning author, Thom Hatch presents the definitive biography of George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938), who was recognized in his time as “The Father of American Conservation.” This book chronicles not only Grinnell’s life, but also offers a history of his accomplishments in saving the wildlife and natural resources of this country.

A remarkable man, Grinnell was known as a model of intellectual diversity, integrity, and professional dedication. He was a daring adventurer and explorer; crusading magazine publisher and editor (Forest and Stream, now Field and Stream); prolific author; accomplished outdoorsman; notable paleontologist, ethnologist, ornithologist, and anthropologist; presidential advisor; advocate for Native Americans; and this country’s first environmental activist, whose contributions in that arena are unparalleled in American history.

Sujets

• Environmental Protection
• Environmental Conservation
• Anastasia Nikoláyevna Románova
• Nicholas II of Russia
• Greg King
• Alexandra Romanova
• Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
• Soviet Union
• House of Romanov
• October Revolution
• History of Russia
• Anastasia Nikolaïevna de Russie
• Nicolas II
• Nature
• Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 18 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781684423354
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

THE FATHER OF AMERICAN CONSERVATION
THE FATHER OF AMERICAN CONSERVATION
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL ADVENTURER, ACTIVIST AND AUTHOR
THOM HATCH
TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY
Turner Publishing Company
Nashville, Tennessee
www.turnerpublishing.com
The Father of American Conservation Copyright 2019 Thom Hatch
Cover Design: Lauren Peters-Collaer
Book design: Meg Reid
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hatch, Thom, 1946- author.
Title: The father of American conservation : George Bird Grinnell, adventurer, activist, author / by Thom Hatch.
Description: Nashville, Tennessee : Turner Publishing Company, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Award-winning author, Thom Hatch presents the definitive biography of George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938), who was recognized in his time as The Father of American Conservation. This book chronicles not only Grinnell s life, but also offers a history of his accomplishments in saving the wildlife and natural resources of this country - Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019025022 (print) | LCCN 2019025023 (ebook) ISBN 9781684423330 (paperback) | ISBN 9781684423347 (hardcover) ISBN 9781684423354 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Grinnell, George Bird, 1849-1938.
Conservationists-United States-Biography.
Naturalists-United States-Biography.
Classification: LCC QH31.G74 H38 2020 (print) | LCC QH31.G74 (ebook) DDC 333.72092 [B]-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019025022
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019025023
Printed in the United States of America
19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my lovely and talented wife, Lyndy, my beautiful and brilliant daughter, Cimarron, and our faithful border collie, Emily, who are my daily inspiration .
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter One: The Budding Naturalist
Chapter Two: A Tenderfoot in the West
Chapter Three: Buffalo Hunting With the Pawnee
Chapter Four: Custer and Black Hills Gold
Chapter Five: Yellowstone Country
Chapter Six: Traveling, Collecting, and Writing
Chapter Seven: Crusading Editor
Chapter Eight: A Presidential Friendship
Chapter Nine: Author and Advocate for Native America
Chapter Ten: The Harriman Expedition
Chapter Eleven: Grinnell s Glacier
Chapter Twelve: Preserving the Legacy
Bibliography
The pleasures, the values of contact with the natural world, are not reserved for scientists. They are available to anyone who will place himself under the influence of a lonely mountaintop-or the sea-or the stillness of the forest, or who will stop to think about so small a thing as the mystery of a growing seed. I believe natural beauty has a necessary place in the spiritual development of any individual of any society. I believe that whenever we destroy beauty, or whenever we substitute something man-made and artificial for a natural feature of the earth, we have retarded some part of man s spiritual growth.
- RACHEL CARSON
INTRODUCTION
EVERY NOW AND THEN A BOOK COMES ALONG THAT IS NOT only timely but has a chance to make a substantial difference. The book you are holding in your hands is that sort of book.
One dedicated visionary, George Bird Grinnell, led successful public crusades to gain justice in myriad aspects of conservation in the days when animals and birds were being slaughtered at will; unique natural land formations were being destroyed and looted; our public lands were being ravaged by commercialization; and lobbyists for powerful business interests owned Congress.
And today, we are in danger of history repeating itself. Rollbacks of government regulations have weakened protections and threatened the future of our country s abundant wildlife and fragile environment. Our natural resources are under siege, and many of the changes are being carried out surreptitiously and without debate.
In order to better understand this alarming direction, we must be aware of the historical aspects of the battle between corporate and government interests against the natural balance of our planet. There are methods to be learned from those who have already committed their lives to fighting for justice in the natural world. Otherwise, history could repeat itself and it may be too late to reverse the damaging trend.
This book takes you back to the days and times of George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938), who was recognized in his era as The Father of American Conservation. A remarkable man, Grinnell was known as a model of intellectual diversity, integrity, and professional dedication. He was a daring adventurer and explorer; crusading magazine publisher and editor; prolific author; accomplished out-doorsman; notable paleontologist, ethnologist, ornithologist, and anthropologist; presidential advisor; advocate for Native American rights; and this country s first environmental activist, whose contributions in that arena are unparalleled in American history.
Although small in stature, George Grinnell had an air of dignity about him, with his immaculate dress and neatly trimmed mustache, and he stood tall when it came to causes in which he believed were righteous and worthy. He did not merely speak out or write about the need to preserve this country s wildlife and natural resources or suggest fair treatment of Native Americans. He was the catalyst for change, a tireless crusader who rallied the support of common people as well as presidents and Congress to take action in a wide range of conservation issues to protect the land and the wild animals that he loved and to defend Native Americans, who at the time were in serious danger of extermination.
Grinnell created the Audubon Society; co-founded the Boone and Crockett Club; worked to save the last wild herd of buffalo in the country; successfully lobbied Congress to pass the protection of wildlife and natural resources in our National Parks; pushed for setting aside national forest and wilderness land; negotiated fair treaties for Native American tribes; as well as being a vigorous advocate for rules and regulations to establish sensible hunting laws that exist to this day.
But this book is more than merely a biography of an extraordinary man whose accomplishments in the area of environmental protection have affected our modern society. We travel back to an era when the country was rapidly growing-and for the first time concerned conservationists came forward to struggle with those growing pains that were affecting nature. It was a time of unchecked abuse for commercial purposes of our natural resources and a near extermination of animal and bird species for profit, not to mention the systematic ostracism if not annihilation of Native American culture.
We begin our journey in Brooklyn at the rural estate of the late John James Audubon, where Lucy Audubon, the widow of that famous painter, homeschooled young George Bird Grinnell and gave him his first lessons about the natural world around him.
And then, after college at Yale, we are off on daring adventures, heart-stopping escapes, and momentous discoveries throughout the wilderness American West that shaped Grinnell s perspective of the challenges facing the land and animals-a groundbreaking paleontology expedition; the last buffalo hunt of the Pawnee tribe; the search for gold and unknown natural resources with Custer and the Seventh Cavalry in the Black Hills; the first documentation of the birds and mammals in the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park-and the first official condemnation of their treatment; an unprecedented exploration of Alaska in a floating scientific university; negotiating fair treaties and rights for Native Americans; fighting for migratory bird laws that presently exist; the creation of Montana s Glacier National Park, with Grinnell s Glacier as its centerpiece; and, as the pitchman once said, much, much more.
And through it all we follow the tireless activism of George Grinnell as editor of Forest and Stream , the leading sportsman s magazine of the day, and a prolific editorial writer working to inform and inflame the public about any threat to the natural world while offering concrete ideas about how to fight it.
Along the way, we are introduced to such luminaries as his close friend President Theodore Roosevelt, scout and entertainer Buffalo Bill Cody, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, naturalists John Muir and John Burroughs, famed photographer Edward Curtis, painter Albert Bierstadt, Lakota Sioux Chief Red Cloud, Yale paleontology professor O. C. Marsh, Army scouts Frank and Luther North and Charley Reynolds, General Phil Sheridan, railroad moguls Edward Harriman and Jay Cooke, trapper Liver-Eating Johnson, and many other contemporaries of George Grinnell, both famous and lesser known but each playing a relevant role in this country s legends and history as heroes or villains.
Although this book is intended to be enjoyable entertainment and not homework, it is my wish that it will serve to inspire and motivate people to become passionate about environmental issues in their own communities as well as nationally and involve themselves in protecting those precious resources that are being threatened.
With that in mind, it is my belief that anyone who reads this book will recognize the urgent need to revisit the battles that the visionary George Grinnell waged and not allow his work to be in vain. Hopefully, readers of this book will forever after choose sensible preservation and protection over unrestrained corporate greed when evaluating environmental issues, and the public will respond the way it did when George Grinnell called upon responsible people to stand up and defend our precious natural resources.
Perhaps due to his unassuming personality and lack of self-promotion while alive, Grinnell has not enjoyed the acclaim of other early conservationists. His life story, one of great adventure and remarkable accomplishment, however, virtually cries out for attention and recognition. A