Cities and Nature in the American West (The Urban West Series)

In less than a century, the American West has transformed from a predominantly rural region to one where most people live in metropolitan centers. Cities and Nature in the American West offers provocative analyses of this transformation. Each essay explores the intersection of environmental, urban, and western history, providing a deeper understanding of the com- plex processes by which the urban West has shaped and been shaped by its sustaining environment. The book also considers how the West's urban development has altered the human experience and perception of nature, from the administration and marketing of national parks to the consumer roots of popular environ- mentalism; the politics of land and water use; and the challenges of environmental inequities. A number of essays address the cultural role of wilderness, nature, and such activities as camping. Others examine the increasingly per- vasive power of the West's urban areas and urbanites to redefine the very foundations and future of the American West. Into the West / Char Miller Land Sweetening the urban marketplace : California's Hawaiian outpost / Jessica Teisch Crabgrass or grapes : urban sprawl, agricultural persistence, and the fight for the Napa Valley / Kathleen A. Brosnan Natives' return : LBJ'S Texas White House and Lady Bird's wildflowers / Vera Norwood Water Fishy thinking : salmon and the persistence of history in urban environmental politics / Matthew Klingle One city, two rivers : Columbia and Willamette rivers in the environmental history of twentieth-century Portland, Oregon / William Lang Private water : the curious case of San Jose's water supply / Martin V. Melosi Campground Performing bears and packaged wilderness : reframing the history of national parks / Marguerite S. Shaffer The devil in the cathedral : sewage and garbage in Yosemite National Park / Craig E. Colten and Lary M. Dilsaver Sleeping outside : the political natures of urban camping / Phoebe S. Kropp City Boundary issues : clarifying New Orleans's murky edges / Ari Kelman The nature and business of war : drilling for oil in wartime Los Angeles / Sarah S. Elkind Stand by your brand : Vail, Colorado, and the consumer roots of popular environmentalism / William Philpott The whole Earth catalog, new games, and urban environmentalism / Andrew G. Kirk Escape to the West/return to the East : the lure of the city familiar / Joel A. Tarr. In less than a century, the American West has transformed from a predominantly rural region to one where most people live in metropolitan centres. Cities and Nature in the American West offers provocative analyses of this transformation. Each essay explores the intersection of environmental, urban, and western history.