The contributors in this book establish a fundamentally original view of the conservation movement and the impact of public policy on nature. This collection of essays articulate the belief that the thinkers and actors who helped develop the conservation movement -notably John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold - have been seriously misunderstood by scholars who have analysed them in the context of contemporary environmental debates. This book takes a new look at what is problematic about the legacy of American conservationist and explores worthy alternatives to the dominant environmentalist thinking of today.