Spine of the Continent

Reviews / Votes

"This is the biography of a big conservation idea - connected wild lands and nature-friendly landscapes the length of the Rockies - and of the scientific and conservation pioneers making it actually happen. Mary Ellen Hannibal gives us an engrossing and inspiring story. The Spine of the Continent comes to life through those who are making it happen. This is a page-turner of science, action, and hope." - Thomas E. Lovejoy, Biodiversity Chair, the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment "The bad news is that human impacts are tearing nature apart at the seams. The good news is that conservation biology has quantified why we have to heal these wounds in our life-support systems, and how to do it. Scientists, NGOs, and regular people are joining in a geographical, social, and political effort to sustain wilderness along the Rocky Mountains-the most significant stretch of wilderness left on the continent. If we are to get any kind of handle on the extinction crisis that is decimating biodiversity, it will be by protecting the habitats that sustain it, along the Spine of the Continent. This is an engaging and entertaining book, and it is an important one." -Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University and author of The Dominant Animal A fine overview of wide-angle environmentalism. Hannibal explores the ambitious Spine of the Continent Initiative, a massive project to protect wildlife and land by connecting expanses of acreage across North America. -Kirkus Reviews The Spine of the Continent initiative may be the most daring and important conservation effort of our era, knitting the islands of natural beauty we've preserved (or ignored) during the last century into a connected, functioning ecosystem to sustain us all. Mary Ellen Hannibal delivers a compelling and personal narrative about science, nature, the extinction crisis -- and the men and women determined to restore America's most epic landscapes. -Edward Humes, author of Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash"The concept of wildlife corridors is one of the most important in the history of conservation, and I am very pleased to see it moved into wider public attention."-Edward O. Wilson, Professor Emeritus, University Research Harvard University "Mary Ellen Hannibal has brought a critical issue to light, and her insightful book deserves a wide audience. The Spine of the Continent should mark an epoch in conservation history-the moment perhaps, let us hope, when large-scale thinking is at last brought to bear on our most precious landscapes. -Thomas McNamee, author of The Grizzly and The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat"Spine of the Continent is an impressive journalistic account of this conservation, brought to life through stories of people on the front lines. But it's more. Hannibal provides one of the best, most accessible overviews yet written of conservation biology - its history, its key figures, its issues and arguments and aspirations. If you want to understand this scientific field and its key concepts, this book would be the place to start." --Cool Green Science, The Nature Conservancy