Good Dirt: Confessions Of A Conservationist

by David E. Morine, Paul Flint

Overview

The best-selling conservation classic, completely expanded, revised, and updated

David Morine was a briefcase conservationist specializing in human nature. During his fifteen years in charge of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy, Morine helped protect more than three million acres of wilderness, finding plenty to laugh about and learn from along the way. Here are the stories behind the deals and the people who made them—an enlightening, entertaining, occasionally unsettling look at the dirty job of keeping America clean.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762773640
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/20/2011
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dave Morine is a native of the greater Boston area. From 1972 to 1990, he was the head of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy, a major conservation organization. Morine left the Conservancy in 1990 and has been writing ever since.

            GOOD DIRT: Confessions of a Conservationist (Globe Pequot Press, 1990; Ballantine paperback, 1993) was his first book, followed by The Class Choregus (North Atlantic Books, 1993).  Next came PIT BULL: Lessons from Wall Street’s Champion Trader (with Martin Schwartz and Paul Flint, Harper Business, 1998;  Harper Perennial paperback, 1999), then  VACATIONLAND: A Half Century Summering in Maine (DownEast Books, 2001), and most recently, SMALL CLAIMS: My Little Trials in Life (DownEast Books, June, 2003).

            In addition to his books, Morine has contributed stories to Love of Labs (Voyageur Press, 1997), Love of Goldens (Voyageur Press, 1998), and Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan’s Soul (Health Communications, Inc., 2001).  Articles, mostly about his work in conservation, have appeared in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, DownEast, Field & Stream, Range, and American Forests.            

Editorial Reviews

Morine shares his most difficult, embarrassing, hilarious and unpredictable moments as a shirt-and-tie deal maker in the service of an untamed natural world.” —New York Times Book Review
 
“This is funny stuff.” —The Bloomsbury Review
 
“Some of the funniest tales in the annals of conservation. .. Thoroughly enjoyable.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

A cardinal rule for the Nature Conservancy, says the author, for 16 years director of land acquisition for that respected conservation organization, is not to mix nature with business. In his efforts to garner donations of land, Morine has tallied up notable successes and a few failures, but never at the expense of his sense of humor. On one occasion he lost a major donation when he declined to capture a blacksnake; another deal was thwarted by a miniature poodle. Embarrassing moments included a skinny-dipping expedition off Santa Cruz Island with a potential donor (an heiress) and a trustee (a retired diplomat), and his grounding a boat during a tour down the Suwanneesp ok,db River, requiring everyone on board, including the dignitaries, to push it afloat. Lighthearted and upbeat, these stories, offering glimpses of the deals and trade-offs that have saved valuable land, will delight conservation-minded readers. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A former developer, Morine has dedicated the last 16 years to the Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation group dedicated to land acquisition for the purposes of saving endangered ecosystems. As vice president of that organization, he tells informative stories, e.g., about a ``less-than-honorable James G. Watt'' and his impact on the Department of the Interior. While the insights are conservation-based, the reader doesn't have to be an insider to enjoy this lightly humorous book. A good purchase for general collections of any size.-- Mary J. Nickum, Fish and Wildlife Reference Svce., Bethesda, Md.

Library Journal

YA-- The former vice president of The Nature Conservancy recalls some of the most memorable mishaps of his 18 years of involvement in acquiring land for the nonprofit organization. Wooing potential donors required facing the hazards of coping with black snakes who invaded his host's home, rafting solo in the Yukon, and encountering a miniature poodle who could ruin a potential deal. While not a tract on conservation, the message is subtly and humorously conveyed with a look at the techniques of preserving our natural areas. Some of these 19 essays and anecdotes have appeared in Sports Illustrated, American Forests, and Down East. -- Julia M. Losinski, formerly at Prince George's County Memorial Library Systems, Hyattsville, MD

School Library Journal