Force of Nature: George Fell, Founder of the Natural Areas Movement

by Arthur Melville Pearson, Peter R. Crane (Foreword by)

Overview

Winner of the Illinois State Historical Society Outstanding Achievement Award

Efforts to preserve wild places in the United States began with the allure of scenic grandeur: Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon. But what about the many significant natural sites too small or fragile to qualify as state or federal parks? Force of Nature reveals how George Fell initiated the natural areas movement to save those areas. Fell transformed a loose band of ecologists into The Nature Conservancy, drove the passage of the influential Illinois Nature Preserves Act, and helped spark allied local and national conservation organizations in the United States and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299312343
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Arthur Melville Pearson is the form program director of the Chicago Program at the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, which helps protect and restore natural lands in the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His writing has appeared frequently in the magazines Chicago Wilderness and Outdoor Illinois and in the blogs A Midewin Almanac and City Creatures.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations                   Foreword                                 Peter R. Crane Acknowledgments                   Chronology                    Prologue                      1 From the Bend of a Beautiful River to the Alcatraz of Conscientious Objector Camps                    2 Threatened Lands, Living Museums             3 The Nature Conservancy: Setting Up the Necessary Structure Ourselves                  4 The Illinois Nature Preserves Act: If at First You Don't Succeed . . .                        5 The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission: Where Once We Were Opportunists                  6 Sowing More Acorns, Fighting More Battles             Epilogue                        Notes               Index

Editorial Reviews

"A chance to learn about this fascinating visionary, whose tireless efforts made Illinois a more beautiful place."--Nature in Chicagoland

"An excellent read."--Mesabi Daily News

"George Fell sparred with fellow naturalists and politicians to bring into being organizations that are models for today's worldwide conservation efforts. Pearson documents this extraordinary life with a wide range of sources, including interviews over two decades with both Fell's partners and his doubters."--James Ballowe, author of A Man of Salt and Tree

"The inspiring story of the innovative conservation institutions and legislation instigated by George Fell and his wife, Barbara, highlighted by the Nature Conservancy, arguably the largest environmental organization in the world."--Stephen Laubach, author of Living a Land Ethic

"Through Pearson's attention to place, the story of this obscure conservationist figure is told with the conviction that the inextricable force of nature drove all of his endeavors."--South Side Weekly

"Well researched and informative. . . . This biography serves to remind us of who George Fell was and to help us to understand that we need environmental defenders who possess his qualities."--EcoLit Books

From the Publisher