Last Refuge: The Environmental Showdown in the American West

How can the miners, loggers and ranchers of the Old West come to terms with the New West's tourists, real-estate agents and environmentalists? Robbins, a journalist who writes for the New York Times and Smithsonian magazine, examines critical issues in this conflict. He notes that land use, from mining to building sites to grazing, is regulated by antiquated laws and policies. Robbins' focus is on Yellowstone Park and its surroundings (the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem), but he also addresses problems in other Western states. He discusses water use and the trend to favor cities' needs over farmers'. Robbins looks at "greenlock" in our national parks, where overcrowding has excessively burdened facilities and begun to damage the environment. He discusses the social and environmental costs of the growth of Western cities and towns, citing Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Jackson and Dubois, in Wyoming. Urban sprawl is impinging on choice wildlife habitat, yet local officials resist planning and zoning. This is a penetrating analysis of the Western problem, a companion volume to Charles Wilkinson's Crossing the Next Meridian.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Guide: Louise Taylor, PhD.

Louise Taylor retired from Meredith College as an English Professor, Dr. Taylor will be our scholar guiding the discussion of Jim Robbins' Last Refuse: The Environmental Showdown in the American West.

Organizer:

The Carteret County Public Library proudly presents the latest in this popular book discussion series. Your insights are the focus of the sessions. Our guest humanities scholars act as guides, leading discussion about how the books inform and enrich our lives. The library has limited copies of the books to loan at no charge. The web site is: http://carteret.cpclib.org/cart/ltai.htm.

Program Sponsor: This project is made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with the North Carolina Center for the Book, a program of the State Library of North Carolina.