Review by Choice Review
This well-researched book focuses on the evolution of a politically charged habitat approach to endangered species protection, intertwined with a history of the roles of ecological science, natural resource management, ethics, environmental law, and politics in its development. Alagona (history, geography, and environmental studies, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) begins by chronicling the extinction of the California grizzly bear. The grizzly became the state's icon and catalyst for intensive efforts by California naturalists to protect its rapidly disappearing wildlife, starting with laws to protect species and culminating with an emphasis on habitat preservation that eventually led to the creation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). ESA, thoroughly reviewed in chapter 4, evolved from single-species protection to habitat conservation with unexpected consequences, as described here. The author provides detailed case studies of four endangered California species: the California condor, Mohave Desert tortoise, San Joaquin kit fox, and the Delta smelt. The latter was the focus of a battle over complex allocations of water rights in the California Bay-Delta. After the Grizzly emphasizes the need to redefine habitat conservation beyond protecting wildlands, since nature reserves alone will not protect endangered species. A critical resource for current/future conservation and wildlife biologists and environmentalists. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners; general readers. R. L. Smith emeritus, West Virginia University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
