The story of inspired people who became Eight
Conservationists Who Changed Our World, is the theme for
this book by Larry Nielsen. The author was one of four
presenters of a training course for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service at its National Training Center in
Shepherdstown, West Virginia; the presenters went on to
write a book on community ecosystem management. Thus Larry
Nielsen is in a good position to write about NATURE'S
ALLIES.
John Muir, born in Scotland in 1838, moved with his family
to farm in Wisconsin. Like many Scots he was a natural
inventor and he exhibited at the Wisconsin State Fair.
After an accident in a sawmill blinded one eye, he decided
that his days were not to be wasted indoors and took to
striding around the great outdoors on long journeys,
finally choosing Yosemite as his base. Getting to know
previously unexplored areas, and setting up experiments, he
formulated theories on glacier movement and wrote letters
about them to the New York Daily Tribune when geologists
disagreed. Later his field studies proved his theories, but
as importantly, they showed him the value of conserving the
forests and watershed of Yosemite which were in grave
danger from rapacious sawmill owners and commercial
exploitation. He worked with Robert Underwood Johnson,
editor of the Century magazine, to get the park declared a
National Park with federal protections. Teddy Roosevelt
came on board, helping to win the battle.
Another interesting character was a cartoonist called Jay
Norwood Darling, born in 1876, published under the name
Ding. He had seen the Dustbowl caused by ploughing and
overgrazing prairies and draining wetlands, lowering the
water table and letting dried soil blow away. As an
editorial cartoonist for newspapers when photography was
new, he helped to describe issues for readers. He learned
that waterfowl were in danger of becoming extinct, due to
over-hunting and removal of wetland habitat. Running a
campaign in the Des Moines Register and Leader, this twice-
Pulitzer Prize winner, despite being a critic of Franklin
Roosevelt, was appointed chief of the US Bureau of the
Biological Survey. In this capacity Darling was able to buy
strategic patches of wetlands to be managed for the nation;
and the waterfowl hunter's licence he introduced still
bears his cartoon of mallard ducks.
Aldo Leopold, originally a forestry manager, became the
first wildlife professor in America when he was hired by
the University of Wisconsin in 1933. Restoring a forested
farm that had been exploited down to the bare soil, with
his family, became the basis of 'A Sand County Almanac' and
an example to many.
Rachel Carson, born in 1907 near Pittsburgh, would go on to
write 'Silent Spring', a thoroughly researched account of
how strong pesticides like DDT were not only killing
insects but accumulating in the bodies of animals and birds
which ate insects, poisoning them and making eggs sterile,
and ultimately poisoning people. She graduated from Johns
Hopkins University as a marine biologist and during the
Depression, worked for the Bureau of Fisheries. Her books
about the natural histories of wildlife refuges she visited
were highly praised and sales of her factual book 'The Sea
Around Us' made her independent. Called upon to 'do
something' by Long Island landowners who wanted to halt
pesticide spraying by air over their properties, which
resulted in die-offs of birds, Rachel Carson conducted
research through papers in many universities, laboratories
and government offices, becoming more worried for human
health the more she learned. Publication of 'Silent Spring'
made the issue instantly notorious, so the chemical
industry, which could not criticise her research, scorned
the woman herself, but she conducted interviews and
appeared before Senate hearings and the public were
convinced.
Other characters described in this entertaining and
enlightening book include Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber
tapper called the Ghandi of the Amazon for his work with
the local people being pushed out of their lands due to
logging and burning. Cattle ranching earned little and
failed after a few years as the poor soil became exhausted,
but tapping trees for rubber and harvesting Brazil nuts
could provide for families for generations, as well as
preserving tracts of forest. This extractive reserve idea
was finally adopted by the World Bank and the Brazilian
government, but Mendes had made too many enemies and was
murdered in 1988, like many other rural activists. Brazil's
deforestation has slowed dramatically as the value to the
whole world of the Amazon rainforest has been recognised.
We also learn about Billy Frank, Native and ex-Marine, who
campaigned for Native fishermen, and sustainable salmon
fisheries and timber harvesting in Washington State.
Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for
getting communities to plant trees in millions across her
native Kenya and other African countries, after gaining a
Masters degree in biology in the University of Pittsburgh
thanks to the Kennedy Airlift programme. She saw that
commercial plantation was causing environmental
degradation, water loss and rural poverty. Restoring native
trees such as fig, banana, mango, citrus, papaya, acacia
and avocado seemed to be the obvious solution. Her slogan
became 'You don't need a diploma to plant a tree.' Her
Green Belt Movement not only educated people and provided
jobs, it provided food and empowered local people,
especially women. Gro Harlem Brundtland from Norway went on
to be director-general of the World Health Organisation.
All of these fascinating stories are provided in NATURE'S
ALLIES, with photos, and will reward study by anyone
interested in science, nature, groundswell movements,
American history and journalism.
It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of big environmental
challenges—but we need inspiration more than ever. With
political leaders who deny climate change, species that are
fighting for their very survival, and the planet’s last
places of wilderness growing smaller and smaller, what can a
single person do? In Nature’s Allies, Larry Nielsen
uses the stories of conservation pioneers to show that
through passion and perseverance, we can each be a positive
force for change.
In eight engaging and diverse biographies—John Muir, Ding
Darling, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Chico Mendes, Billy
Frank Jr., Wangari Maathai, and Gro Harlem Brundtland—we
meet individuals who have little in common except that they
all made a lasting mark on our world. Some famous and some
little known to readers, they spoke out to protect
wilderness, wildlife, fisheries, rainforests, and wetlands.
They fought for social justice and exposed polluting
practices. They marched, wrote books, testified before
Congress, performed acts of civil disobedience, and, in one
case, were martyred for their defense of nature. Nature’s
Allies pays tribute to them all as it rallies a new
generation of conservationists to follow in their footsteps.
These vivid biographies are essential reading for anyone who
wants to fight for the environment against today’s political
opposition. Nature’s Allies will inspire students,
conservationists, and nature lovers to speak up for nature
and show the power of one person to make a difference.
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