Wild Forests: Conservation Biology And Public Policy

Bears and bureaucrats, timber and telephone lines, poaching and predators, fires and families -- all these play a part in this fascinating and long-overdue study of Canadas National Park wardens. The Warden Service has been integral to Canadas National Parks from their earliest days. First established in Rocky Mountains Park (now Banff National Park) in 1909, the position of Fire and Game Guardian was the precursor of todays National Park Warden, whose duties now include resource management, law enforcement and public safety. Robert Burns traces the growth of the warden service from here, its formative years, and goes on to show how the role changed and developed according to the expanding park system, altered societal expectations, and technological change. Guardians of the Wild is a study of real people and their trials, triumphs and tragedies. This book creates a complete history where before there existed only sketchy accounts of single individuals and incidents. The need for such an account is undeniable; well-known historian Simon Evans describes this story as "one which deserves to be heard." Both a tribute to the enormous devotion to duty and dedicated labours of the park wardens, and a well-researched factual account of how our National Parks evolved, Guardians of the Wild is a singular study of the historical evolution of protection and management inside Canadas National Parks.

The world is undergoing unprecedented changes in many of the factors that determine its fundamental properties and their in- ence on society. These changes include climate; the chemical c- position of the atmosphere; the demands of a growing human population for food and ?ber; and the mobility of organisms, ind- trial products, cultural perspectives, and information ?ows. The magnitude and widespread nature of these changes pose serious challenges in managing the ecosystem services on which society depends. Moreover, many of these changes are strongly in?uenced by human activities, so future patterns of change will continue to be in?uenced by society’s choices and governance. The purpose of this book is to provide a new framework for n- ural resource management―a framework based on stewardship of ecosystems for human well-being in a world dominated by unc- tainty and change. The goal of ecosystem stewardship is to respond to and shape change in social-ecological systems in order to s- tain the supply and opportunities for use of ecosystem services by society. The book links recent advances in the theory of resilience, sustainability, and vulnerability with practical issues of ecosystem management and governance. The book is aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students of natural resource management as well as professional managers, community leaders, and policy makers with backgrounds in a wide array of d- ciplines, including ecology, policy studies, economics, sociology, and anthropology