First Steps : Conserving Our Environment

Making a quiet and cautiously hopeful statement about environmental protection, this spellbinding collection of photographs does not bombard readers with visual imagery or urgent calls for alarm. Instead it celebrates the ability of nature—all by itself—to enthrall and engage human sympathies. The photographs include many views of wildlife and wilderness, as well as scenes of human activity, and simple pieces of short commentary complement the images. A remarkable black-and-white portrait of a polar bear against a dark background is accompanied by a few sober sentences about its proposed listing as a threatened species, and a great picture of New York City and is used to paise the efficiency of high density: Manhattan uses less energy per capita than anywhere else in the United States. A resource section listing websites for organizations, green living, and environmental news and opinion is also included.