Hal Rothman chronicles the American response to the environment in the 20th century, showing how the idea of conservation management was transformed after World War II into a program for "quality of life." His cogent narrative history is punctuated throughout with accounts of crucial episodes in the growth of environmentalism-Hetch-Hetchy, the Echo Park Dam, the oil spill at Santa Barbara, Love Canal, and others. "A thoughtful tracking of the American environmental sympathies during this century."-Kirkus Reviews. American Ways Series.

Part 1 INTRODUCTION: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND ITS MANY VISIONS 3 Chapter 2 From conservation to environmentalism-continuities and contradictions. Part 3 SETTING THE STAGE: THE DIVERSE CURRENTS OF THE 1890s 11 Chapter 4 Industrialization and reform. John Muir, the Sierra Club, and the preservation of nature. Federal legislation. Part 5 PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATION 34 Chapter 6 Theodore Roosevelt and the new approach to conservation. Addressing water pollution. Gifford Pinchot and scientific forestry. Implementing Progressive conservation. The Hetch-Hetchy controversy. Part 7 CONSERVATION AS BUSINESS AND LABOR POLICY 60 Chapter 8 Jazz Age values. Water in the West. New Deal projects. Effects of the Great Depression. Part 9 THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF CONSERVATION 85 Chapter 10 Post-World War II social changes. The problems of growth. Conservation revived. The Echo Park Dam battle. Part 11 THE RISE OF AESTHETIC ENVIRONMENTALISM 108 Chapter 12 The mood of the 1960s. Calls to action. Perils of atomic testing. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb. Environmentalism as a new center of consensus. The Santa Barbara oil spill. Part 13 THE LIMITS OF QUALITY OF LIFE 131 Chapter 14 The dangerous bargain between industry and its workers. A legal revolution. The federal response to environmental concerns. Environmental Impact Statements. The Alaska Pipeline. Earth Day. Toxic wastes. Part 15 BACKLASH: FULL STOMACHS AND EMPTY POCKETS 158 Chapter 16 Impact of the oil crisis and the Vietnam War. The Sagebrush Rebellion. James Watt. Swelling ranks of environmental groups. Reagan administration policies. The Wise Use movement. Part 17 A NEW ENVIRONMENTALISM 184 Chapter 18 Three Mile Island. Hazardous waste and Love Canal. New grassroots activism. Dumping in Nevada. Part 19 A Note on Sources 206 Part 20 Index 210