
A Storied Wilderness
Rewilding the Apostle Islands
James W. Feldman(Author)
University of Washington Press
Published on 15. July 2011
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-295-99096-5 (ISBN)
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Description
The Apostle Islands are a solitary place of natural beauty, with red sandstone cliffs, secluded beaches, and a rich and unique forest surrounded by the cold, blue waters of Lake Superior. But this seemingly pristine wilderness has been shaped and reshaped by humans. The people who lived and worked in the Apostles built homes, cleared fields, and cut timber in the island forests. The consequences of human choices made more than a century ago can still be read in todays wild landscapes. A Storied Wilderness traces the complex history of human interaction with the Apostle Islands. In the 1930s, resource extraction made it seem like the islands natural beauty had been lost forever. But as the island forests regenerated, the ways that people used and valued the islands changed - human and natural processes together led to the rewilding of the Apostles. In 1970, the Apostles were included in the national park system and ultimately designated as the Gaylord Nelson Wilderness. How should we understand and value wild places with human pasts? James Feldman argues convincingly that such places provide the opportunity to rethink the human place in nature.
The Apostle Islands are an ideal setting for telling the national story of how we came to equate human activity with the loss of wilderness characteristics, when in reality all of our cherished wild places are the products of the complicated interactions between human and natural history. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frECwkA6oHs
The Apostle Islands are an ideal setting for telling the national story of how we came to equate human activity with the loss of wilderness characteristics, when in reality all of our cherished wild places are the products of the complicated interactions between human and natural history. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frECwkA6oHs
Reviews / Votes
An insightful chapter to the ongoing wilderness debates about the central role of humans in the wilderness. -- Lissy Goralnik Journal of Environmental Studies Vol.2 Environmental historians will learn much from A Storied Wilderness, but I suspect it can do more good (and perhaps be even more revelatory) if it finds its way into the hands of park planners and policymakers. -- Kevin C. Brown Minnesota History This remarkably rich and complex book would be a useful resource for courses in environmental studies, historical or environmental geography, environmental history, or tourism and recreation studies... A thoroughly researched, highly readable account of the rewilding of a landscape. Summing Up: highly recommended. ChoiceMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
44 illus., 4 maps
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
613 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-99096-5 (9780295990965)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2011
1st Edition
University of Washington Press
€29.49
Available for download
Persons
James W. Feldman is associate professor of history and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin
Content
Foreword by William CrononAcknowledgements Introduction. Stories in the Wilderness1. Lines in the Forest2. Creating a Legible Fishery3. Consuming the Islands4. Sand Island Stories5. A Tale of Two Parks: Rewilding the Islands, 1929-19706. Rewilding and the Manager's DilemmaEpilogue Reading Legible Landscapes NotesSelected BibliographyIndex