Saving America's Wildlife

Between the mid-19th century, when wolves, coyotes and other predator animals were indiscriminately slaughtered, and the present day, when efforts to reintroduce these animals into the wild are well under way, lie years of radical change in American attitudes toward wildlife. Dunlap, author of DDT: Scientists, Citizens, and Public Policy, traces this change, describing developments in ecology and the humane movement that have affected government policies. Concentrating on the fate of wolves and coyotes, he shows that naturalists, lobbying through books, magazine articles, television and movies, have helped awaken the public to the value of these animals and bring about programs for preserving them. The book puts into perspective our changing ideas about nature and demonstrates how difficult and complicated are the processes of making and enforcing laws to protect the envirnoment. (June)