A conservationist manifesto / Scott Russell Sanders.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-238).

Pt. 1: Caring for Earth. Building arks ; Common wealth ; A few earthy words ; Two stones ; The warehouse and the wilderness -- Pt. 2: Caring for home ground. The geography of somewhere ; Hometown ; On loan from the Sundance Sea ; Big trees, still water, tall grass ; Limberlost -- Pt. 3: Caring for generations to come. Wilderness as a sabbath for the land ; Simplicity and sanity ; Stillness ; A conservationist manifesto ; For the children.

As an antidote to the destructive culture of consumption dominating American life today, Scott Russell Sanders calls for a culture of conservation that allows us to savor and preserve the world, instead of devouring it. How might we shift to a more durable and responsible way of life? What changes in values and behavior will be required? Ranging geographically from southern Indiana to the Boundary Waters Wilderness and culturally from the Bible to billboards, Sanders extends the visions of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Rachel Carson to our own day. He shows the crucial relevance of a conservation ethic at a time of mounting concern about global climate change, depletion of natural resources, extinction of species, and the economic inequities between rich and poor nations. The important message of this book is that conservation is not simply a personal virtue but a public one.--From publisher description.