Nature's Restoration : People and Places on the Front Lines of Conservation

Across America and around the world, people are working to help nature heal itself. In Bermuda, a man single-handedly grows thousands of trees on a small island to restore nesting habitat for a rare seabird. In Illinois, legions of volunteers replant prairies in the shadows of freeways. In Virginia, a farmer works to bring back the mighty American chestnut. What drives these individuals? How did their passions come about, and what are the implications for restoring the environment? Nature s Restoration: People and Places on the Front Lines of Conservation is a lyrical look at these and other examples of ordinary citizens aiming to return sizable tracts of the American landscape to nature, and to health. They ve found success in preserving rare species, reversing negative ecological trends, and promoting greater intimacy with nature. Yet the work is far from simple. Restoration projects are often in the news not only because of the promise they hold, but also because of the controversy they provoke. Based on detailed reporting and numerous interviews, Nature s Restoration puts us on the front lines of restoration to learn how this burgeoning national movement shapes both places and people. With fewer and fewer pristine places on earth left to preserve, restoration is the "new" conservation. Yet the work is anything but easy. Ecology is complex, and restoration projects are often controversial. How do we know what's natural? What should nature look like? Can we ever really turn back the clock? These debates have real consequences for the land, and for the values people live by. Nature's Restoration poses intriguing questions about how people can live on the earth without destroying its natural systems. Through detailed reporting and numerous interviews, Friederici's lyrical writing puts us on the front lines of restoration to learn how this growing movement shapes places and inspires people. Nature's Restoration relates the passion of ordinary citizens who are changing the way we think about nature. They are restoring animal habitats, reintroducing native plants, bringing back lost species, and gaining a greater intimacy with the natural world. On a planet suffering from serious ecological problems, the growing restoration movement is a refreshing attempt to set things right. "Nature's Restoration relates the passion of ordinary citizens who are changing the way we think about nature. Through the work of restoration, people are discovering a healthier way to interact with the land and helping to forge a new covenant with nature, one that neither advocates human dominance nor expects return to a lost innocence. On a planet suffering from serious ecological problems, Peter Friederici shows us that the restoration movement is a refreshing attempt to set things right."--Jacket