How and why have Americans living at particular times and places used andtransformed their environment? How have political systems dealt with conflictsover reso... » 

How and why have Americans living at particular times and places used andtransformed their environment? How have political systems dealt with conflictsover resources and conservation? This is the only major reference work toexplore all the major themes and debates in the burgeoning field ofenvironmental history. Humanitys relationship with the natural world is one ofthe oldest and newest topics in human history. The issue emerged as a distinctfield of scholarship in the early 1970s and has been growing steadily eversince. The disciplines territory and sources are rich and varied and includeclimatic and geological data court records archaeological digs and thewritings of naturalists as well as federal and state economic and resourcedevelopment and conservation policy. Environmental historians investigate howand why natural and humancreated surroundings affect a societys development.Merchant provides a contextsetting overview of American environmental historyfrom the precolonial landuse practice of Native Americans and concluding withtwentyfirst concerns over global warming. The book also includes a glossary ofimportant concepts people agencies and legislation a chronology of majorevents and an extensive bibliography including films videos CDROMs andwebsites.This concise reference for students and general readers contains an accessibleoverview of American environmental history a miniencyclopedia of ideaspeople legislation and agencies a chronology of events and theirsignificance and a bibliography of books magazines and journals as well asfilms videos CDROMs and online resources.In addition to providing a wealth of factual information The Columbia Guide toAmerican Environmental History explores contentious issues in this muchdebatedfield from the idea of wilderness to global warming. «