Research Catalog

Title

Welfare ranching : the subsidized destruction of the American West / edited by George Wuerthner and Mollie Matteson.

Publication

Washington [D.C.] : Island Press, c2002.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Wuerthner, George.
• Matteson, Mollie Yoneko.

Description

xv, 346 p. : col. ill., col. maps; 35 cm.

Summary

"Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West tells the story of a vast region, sparsely populated by people but tragically battered by an activity many of us have mistakenly believed is benign. In fact, the production of livestock is incompatible with the ecological health of much of the lands in the West. Aridity is chief among the factors limiting compatible uses of western landscapes. Over decades, the placement of exotic, water-hogging, ill-adapted livestock on western lands has changed diverse native plant communities into monocultures of weeds: turned perennially flowing creeks into dry stream beds: relegated large predators such as wolves and grizzly bears to only the most remote wilderness areas: and forced many wildlife species to the edge of extinction." "This book shows the real West, not the one seen in postcards or imagined from romantic movies and novels. With photographs and essays, it shows not only the most shocking cases of overgrazing, but also the subtle changes that signal ecological disruption on a massive scale. Welfare Ranching explains the cultural and historical causes of the wasting of the West and offers a vision of the renewal that is possible if citizens are willing to demand that their government shift land management priorities to serving the public and natural good, rather than facilitating private gain. Ultimately, this book points the way to the greatest opportunity yet remaining for ecological restoration and wildlife protection in this country."--Jacket.

Subjects

• Public lands > West (U.S.) > Management
• Range ecology > West (U.S.)
• Range management > West (U.S.)
• Grazing > Environmental aspects > West (U.S.)

Genre/Form

Illustrated works.

Note

• "Published by the Foundation for Deep Ecology."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 329-343) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

• In the beginning : cow / Christopher Manes -- Beef, cowboys, the West : American icons / George Wuerthner -- Land held hostage : a history of livestock and politics / Thomas L. Fleischner -- Evil in the season : the cattleman's welfare system begins / T.H. Watkins -- Pillaged preserves : livestock in national parks and wilderness areas / Andy Kerr.
• Science of nature and the nature of science : questions of fact and value / Mollie Matteson -- Surveying the West : a summary of research on livestock impacts / Allison Jones -- Lifeblood of the West : riparian zones, biodiversity, and degradation by livestock / J. Boone Kauffman -- What the river once was : livestock destruction of waters and wetlands / Joy Belsky, Andrea Matzke, Shauna Uselman -- Cattle and streams : piecing together a story of change / Suzanne Fouty -- Stink water : declining water quality due to livestock production / John Carter.
• Guzzling the West's water : squandering a public resource at public expense / George Wuerthner -- Soil's living surface : biological crusts / George Wuerthner -- Comrades in harm : livestock and exotic weeds in the intermountain West / Joy Belsky, Jonathan L. Gelbard -- Silent springs : threats to frog habitat from livestock production / Janice Engle -- Native snails : indicators of ecosystem health / Terrence J. Frest -- Birds and bovines : effects of ivestock grazing on birds in the West / Carl E. Bock.
• Ranching in bear country : conflict and conservation / Brian L. Horejsi -- West without wolves : the livestock industry hamstrings wolf recovery / Michael J. Robinson -- Prairie dog gone : myth, persecution, and preservation of a keystone species / Lauren McCain, Richard P. Reading, Brian J. Miller -- Sage grouse : imperiled icon of the sagebrush sea / Randy Webb, Mark Salvo -- Where bison once roamed : the impacts of cattle and sheep on native herbivores / Bill Willers -- War against predators : the killing of wildlife funded by taxpayers / Brooks Fahy and Cheri Briggs.
• Heavy toll : native animals harmed by livestock production -- Taking stock of public lands grazing : an economic analysis / Thomas M. Power -- Mortgaging public assets : how ranchers use grazing permits as collateral / Mark Salvo -- It's what's for dinner : the health costs of meat / Virginia Kisch Messina -- Eating is an agricultural act : modern livestock agriculture from a global perspective / Richard Schwartz, Mollie Matteson -- Donut diet : the too-good-to-be-true claims of holistic management / George Wuerthner.
• Just a domestic bison? Cattle are no substitute for buffalo / George Wuerthner -- Cows or condos : a false choice between public lands ranching and sprawl / George Wuerthner -- Using a hammer to swat mosquitoes : livestock as management "tools" / George Wuerthner -- The last roundup : options for ending destructive public lands ranching / Bill Marlett -- Upholding the law : litigation and public lands livestock / Stephanie M. Parent.

ISBN

• 1559639423 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 1559639431 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2001007269

OCLC

48451211

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library