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Book End National

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Book End National

Smithsonian Book Of National Wildlife Refuges. A Review

Smithsonian Book Of National Wildlife Refuges / written by Eric Jay Dolin, photography by John and Karen Hollingsworth (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003). Hardcover, 258 p. ISBN 9781588341174

Smithsonian Book Of National Wildlife Refuges celebrates the centennial of the National Wildlife Refuges. President Theodore Roosevelt established the first one, Pelican Island in Florida, in 1903. Beginning when colonists first settled what later became the United States, the continent's abundant and diverse wildlife seemed a resource to exploit. By the end of the nineteenth century, several species had become extinct and others were in danger of meeting the same fate.

Beginning with a description of centuries of wanton destruction of wildlife, Eric Jay Dolin goes on to relate the beginnings of the conservation movement in the last decades of the nineteenth century, as both individuals and groups struggled to preserve what remained of an irreplaceable heritage. Despite some successes, it became apparent that protecting wildlife depended upon action by the Federal government. Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge therefore serves both as the beginning of a new Federal initiative and the culmination of years of effort to establish the importance of wildlife preservation.

By the time Smithsonian Book Of National Wildlife Refuges appeared, the system had grown to 538 National Wildlife Refuges, distributed among all fifty states, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere. To this day, the protection of wildlife is not universally regarded as a top priority. Many of the wildlife refuges are good for various commercial purposes, which are not necessarily conducive to wildlife preservation. It was not until 1997 that legislation officially made wildlife preservation the refuges' dominant purpose. Even then, the law made an exception for part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The debate over whether to drill for oil there continues to this day. Although certainly an advocate for the wildlife rather than the oil, Dolin manages to be fair to both sides in his description of the controversy.

Smithsonian Book Of National Wildlife Refuges is not only well written, but beautifully illustrated. Dolin's text and the Hollingsworths' photographs work together as a well-integrated whole. Some readers appreciate books like this for the text and others for the pictures. Both will be delighted by this book, just the kind of thing that the All-Purpose Guru Alert features every day.

About the Author

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