On the borders of post-war ecology: Struggles over the ecological society of America's preservation committee, 1917–1946

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Acknowledgements

Many people provided thoughtful comments and advice on various stages of this article. The author would like to thank Daniel Kleinman, Scott Frickel, Ronald Numbers, Michael Shank, Gregg Mitman, Chas Camic, Fred Buttel, Jane Camerini, Les Levidow and the anonymous reviewers.

Notes

1. A note on sources: both primary and secondary sources form the basis of this study. I relied on a small number of existing historical works to form an initial picture of the debate (Croker, 1991; Tjossem, 1994). I also found that the ESA itself had published a very brief history of the origins of the Ecologists' Union (Dexter, 1978). A major primary source used in this study was the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, the ESA's quarterly publication for members. The Bulletin from the period under study included meeting summaries, committee reports, letters, and referenda. The journals Science and Ecology were also a valuable source of editorials and letters written by ESA leaders.

2. See Kleinman and Kinchy (2003) for a review of a variety of these studies.

3. All information about the Glacier Bay Monument campaign is drawn from a publication available through the National Parks Service, entitled Land Reborn: A History of Administration and Visitor Use in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, by Theodore Catton (1995). Available online at http://www.nps.gov/glba/adhi/adhi.htm.

4. The Antiquities Act of 1906 gave the US president the authority to proclaim ‘historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest’ to be national monuments. Originally intended to protect prehistoric ruins and artefacts, the Antiquities Act has enabled presidents to protect many ‘scientifically interesting’ tracts of federal land.

5. After five years of existence, the Union reorganized and was renamed the Nature Conservancy. It has remained in this incarnation to the present time, as a leading national agency for the protection of natural areas.