06/24/2019

Naturalist John Muir and U.S. Forest Service founder Gifford Pinchot, usually portrayed as rigid symbols of warring preservation vs. conservation approaches to public-land management, in fact had a nuanced rivalry with hopeful ramifications for modern environmental issues, argues journalist Clayton (Wonderlandscape) in this hybrid biography-history. The first of the book’s two parts begins with sketches of Muir, a writer and scientist best known for his role in the creation of Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Club, and Pinchot, who had a privileged upbringing and studied forestry, embraced a pragmatic attitude toward nature, and influenced President Theodore Roosevelt’s environmentalism. Clayton details Muir and Pinchot’s differing views on the controversial Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite, which, in a defeat for Muir, was built. In the book’s second half, Clayton widens his scope, looking at how public lands became a uniquely “American hallmark.” He posits that Muir and Pinchot’s differing approaches, far from causing an irreparable rift, balanced each other out and nurtured the lasting “belief that an American landscape could be productively managed, through democratic processes, for the benefit of all.” Readers will share Clayton’s hope that a similar “marriage of morality and capability” can help solve today’s most pressing issues. Agent: Laura Wood, Fine Print Literary. (Aug.)

"A crisply written double biography. Clayton paints vivid portraits of each, with Muir as the bedraggled backwoods explorer whose storytelling could charm the rich and powerful into supporting his causes, while practically minded New Yorker Pinchot peddled science and profitability to win political backing for his schemes. What makes their stories especially compelling is their preservation versus conservation debate, which still rages."

"Mr. Clayton writes with clarity, passion, and insight. This story is uneasily relevant to today...and may even provide a template for addressing climate change. We need our own John Muir and Gifford Pinchot."

Mr. Clayton writes with clarity, passion, and insight. This story is uneasily relevant to today…and may even provide a template for addressing climate change. We need our own John Muir and Gifford Pinchot.

A crisply written double biography. Clayton paints vivid portraits of each, with Muir as the bedraggled backwoods explorer whose storytelling could charm the rich and powerful into supporting his causes, while practically minded New Yorker Pinchot peddled science and profitability to win political backing for his schemes. What makes their stories especially compelling is their preservation versus conservation debate, which still rages.

Clayton leads the reader on an enjoyable path to knowledge. ‘You didn’t have to be excited about geology or wildlife or frontier conditions to love Yellowstone,’ Clayton wrote. ‘You could come because you wanted to be a better citizen, take a civics lesson, become inspired about your country’s ideals. Yellowstone had been discovered and set aside by vacationing middle-class folks just like you, who had a spirit of patriotism just like yours.’ Think of that the next time you drive through the East Gate.

A fine book about Yellowstone National Park.Wonderlandscapeoffers more than a few surprises. A great primer on Yellowstone history and a unique discussion of the park’s place in America, in both physical and cultural geography.

Energetic and insightful.

The author has crafted a book that will appeal to national park aficionados and fans of Yellowstone National Park, and by breaking down the pivotal moments in bite-size chunks, he’s also written a terrific page-turning experience.

2019-05-07
America's battle over conservation vs. preservation.

Clayton (Wonderlandscape: Yellowstone National Park and the Evolution of an American Cultural Icon, 2017, etc.) divides his timely book into two parts: the relationship between friends and rivals John Muir (1838-1914) and Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) and the dense underbrush of events, debates, bills, and laws regarding how America would protect public lands "that demonstrate our society's relationship with nature." Muir, co-founder of the Sierra Club, was a prolific author, scientist, and political activist who helped protect Yosemite. He was raised in an evangelical farming family but slowly turned away from it, passionately appreciating God through the works of nature. Pinchot's family was wealthy. He dreamed of becoming America's first forester and served as President Theodore Roosevelt's chief adviser on environmental issues. Muir too was friends with the nature-loving president. Pinchot went on to found the U.S. Forest Service in 1905. Clayton looks at the issue of public lands through the lens of these two, seemingly like-minded men: prophet vs. statesman, a romantic vs. a practical man, and Muir's moral authority vs. Pinchot's tactical genius. As the author shows, they were collaborative rivals, each offering "alternative paths to articulating a constructive societal relationship to nature." He uses the battle over damming Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide water to San Francisco as a key factor in understanding the Muir-Pinchot rivalry. Muir fought hard against it; Pinchot acquiesced. Muir lost. Ultimately, "their friendship was drowned under a reservoir." The book is populated with a number of fascinating figures: Frederick Law Olmsted; co-editor of The Century magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson; and Aldo Leopold, who argued for balancing the use of public land with sustainable logging and water supplies. Today, Clayton writes, we need a "visionary management framework," not "culture wars."

A substantial contribution to understanding our environmental past.