Wilderness and the American Spirit

Book excerpt: THE IDEA OF THE AMERICAN SPIRIT has always been rooted inexpansion and abundance— at great cost to the environment. Withthe world burning up, one can' t help but wonder: how did we gethere? Wilderness and the American Spirit traces hundreds ofyears of The United States' relationship to the environment starting fromthe initial colonization of Native American land, to the developmentof land use policies, and the creation of resource based economies.Using a lesser known alternative to the Oregon Trail— Ruby McConnelluses the Applegate Trail as a vehicle to weave exposition, history, andscience to show us how we got to where we are now and what wecan do about it.