Restoring Nature: The Evolution of Channel Islands National Park (America's Public Lands)

Dilsaver, Lary M.; Babalis, Timothy J.

ISBN 10: 1496233360 / ISBN 13: 9781496233363

Published by University of Nebraska Press, 2023

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Restoring Nature: The Evolution of Channel Islands National Park (America's Public Lands)
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1496233360
• ISBN 13: 9781496233363
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Off the coast of California, running from Santa Barbara to La Jolla, lies an archipelago of eight islands known as the California Channel Islands. The northern five were designated as Channel Islands National Park in 1980 to protect and restore the rich habitat of the islands and surrounding waters.

In the years since, that mission intensified as scientists discovered the extent of damage to the delicate habitats of these small fragments of land and to the surprisingly threatened sea around them. In Restoring Nature Lary M. Dilsaver and Timothy J. Babalis examine how the National Park Service has attempted to reestablish native wildlife and vegetation to the five islands through restorative ecology and public land management. The Channel Islands staff were innovators of the inventory and monitoring program whereby the resource problems were exposed. This program became a blueprint for management throughout the U.S. park system.

Dilsaver and Babalis present an innovative regional and environmental history of a little-known corner of the Pacific West, as well as a larger national narrative about how the Park Service developed its approach to restoration ecology, which became a template for broader Park Service policies that shaped the next generation of environmental conservation.

About the Author

Lary M. Dilsaver is a professor emeritus of geography at University of South Alabama. He is the author of Preserving the Desert: A History of Joshua Tree National Park, among other books. Timothy J. Babalis is a historian and cultural resources program manager at Pinnacles National Park in central California. He is the author of numerous publications for the National Park Service on a variety of topics.