Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park [Paperback]

Alston Chase (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 31.50
Price: CDN$ 25.20 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: CDN$ 6.30 (20%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback CDN $25.20   -- --

Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

The head of an education program at Yellowstone, Chase charges that the overriding priority of the national park's staff is the safety of the visitors and that current wildlife management stresses an "intact ecosystem," meaning that diseased animals are allowed to roam, among other problems. PW called this "explosive."
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Chase argues convincingly that Yellowstone National Park is slowly being destroyed. He details how the Park Service's preservationist policies have driven most of the native wildlife from the park, while allowing some animals to propagate far beyond the land's capacity to sustain them. He meticulously documents his charges, showing how easily science can be subverted by politics and ideology. Surprisingly, environmentalists are implicated in the destruction. Chase critiques, with devastating effect, the multitude of organizations that have made a religion of protecting the environment, while ignoring the fundamental question of man's place in nature. A challenging, compellingly readable account. Highly recommended. Randy Dykhuis, Grace A. Dow Memorial Lib., Midland, Mich.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Product Description

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The uncomfortable truth, Jun 26 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park (Paperback)
I first learned of this book when I was working as a volunteer fire fighter in Northern California back in 1989. The subject came up one evening and the dinner table polarized between the Park Service/Forestry workers and the "environmentalist" crowd. (I was just helping out because my house was at risk from the fire and didn't fit into either camp.) The environmentalists hated the book while the professional forestry managers tried to explain to them that Chase had a lot of good points. I was curious enough to seek out the book to read and learned a lot. Chase's main point is that you can't have it both ways - if you don't want to manage these areas actively you are going to end up with the destruction of habitat and species you were trying to avoid - and proves his case in detail using the Yellowstone disaster as an example. His more recent book, In a Dark Wood, provides more evidence (including a depressing acount of how the unmanged elk herds in Yellowstone are destroying entire ecosystems...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


2.0 out of 5 stars An ideological tract, Feb 28 2001
By 
Ralph Maughan (Pocatello, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park (Paperback)
It has been almost 15 years since Chase published this book. Over this time it has become an ideological tract for those who dislike the Park Service. In order to understand this line of argumentation, all serious students of public land politics should read Chase.

Some of his criticisms are valid, but for those seeking a broader and more objective perspective on Yellowstone, more reading needs to be done.

One book that is particularly good, and which comments on the limited number of historical sources Chase used before concluding that early Yellowstone had few large animals, is Paul Schullery's "Searching for Yellowstone." Houghton-Mifflin. 1997.

Here is a footnote written to my review above (Sept. 2003). Almost all the deleterious effects of excessive and unamanged elk in Yellowstone which Chase describes have been eliminated by the reintroduction of the wolf. The size of the elk herds have declined somewhat, but of equal or greater importance, willows and aspen are showing rapid growth rather than decline for the first time in many years.

The wolves keep the elk moving and out of the dangerous zones (for elk) along the creeks where the willows grow. So the vegetation florishes.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


3.0 out of 5 stars God's Playground for Man to Feel in Control, Feb 20 2000
This review is from: Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park (Paperback)
Chase presents an interesting history of Yellowstone National Park and its human destroyers/protectors. Chase shows the reader how good intentions sometimes do pave the way to bad experiences and worse results. Who could have imagined a national park having fences put up to keep wild animals in? Who would have thought that park rangers would decide that the beavers' dams were too destructive? From my own travels, there is still evidence of beavers and their dams, yet at one point this was nill. That's just one example. Wolves were destroyed because they were seen as a horrible threat, yet now wolves have been reintroduced with brand new controversy. When will we stop playing God? Did we ever not play God in this/and other parks? This is a great read for someone who has interest in national parks and the salvation of these "natural lands." Read it with questions forming, and then go find other sources to answer your questions. This is just one person's research/view point, but Chase gives us a lot to consider and look into. When is it right for humans to interfere? Or is it ever right?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars 
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews




Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Amazon.ca Privacy Statement Amazon.ca Shipping Information Amazon.ca Returns & Exchanges