Editorial Reviews
John Robinson, Fullerton, CA
... This twenty-seven year struggle to achieve passage of the California Deseert Protection Act of 1994 is the crux of Frank Wheat's book. ...This is an epic with many heroes, and Wheat's work is a chronicle of their efforts... ...One might think this account of the long campaign for California desert protection would make for tedious reading. Not so. Frank Wheat writes well and weaves an insightful and fascinating narrative of the 27-year struggle. Southern California's premier historian Doyce Nunis calls this "environmental history at its superbly crafted best. California Desert Miracle is a rich treat for those of us who treasure the state's unspoiled wildlands.
E.J. Kormandy, emeritus, University of West Los Angeles, Choice Magazine, May 1999
The California Desert Protection Act, signed into law by President Clinton on October 31, 1994, traces its roots nearly 30 years earlier to the appointment of a foresighted and forceful California State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Russ Penny. The history of the Act is tracked in meticulous detail by Wheat, a desert devotee lawyer, whose account of the numerous opponents and proponents (including five desert tortoise "lobbyists" who traversed Congressional desks) provides the needed vitality to a convoluted narrative. Considerable space is devoted to the arcane procedures of Congress, leaving the politically inexperienced reader with a sense of despair about the legislative process. A brief chronology enables one to keep the story in perspective, half-tone illustrations of key players add reality, and the basic provisions of the Act, along with footnotes, a glossary, and brief description of the key players, help keep perspective in the complexities in the evolution of the final legislation. The author wisely ends with a cautionary note on the need for eternal vigilance against erosion of the Act. General readers; graduates through professionals.
California Desert Miracle: The Fight for Desert Parks and Wilderness (Sunbelt Natural History Guides)
California Desert Miracle: The Fight for Desert Parks and Wilderness (Sunbelt Natural History Guides),Frank Wheat,Sunbelt Publications,0932653278,California,California Desert Protection A,Desert conservation,Environmental Conservation & Protection - General,Law and legislation,Natural Resources,Nature,Nature/Ecology,United States,Wilderness areas
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