Book Description Review Quotes Contents
Book Description

Since the earliest days of our nation, new communications and transportation networks have enabled vast changes in how and where Americans live and work. Transcontinental railroads and telegraphs helped to open the West; mass media and interstate highways paved the way for suburban migration. In our own day, the internet and advanced logistics networks are enabling new changes on the landscape, with both positive and negative impacts on our efforts to conserve land and biodiversity. Emerging technologies have led to tremendous innovations in conservation science and resource management as well as education and advocacy efforts. At the same time, new networks have been powerful enablers of decentralization, facilitating sprawling development into previously undesirable or inaccessible areas.

Conservation in the Internet Age offers an innovative, cross-disciplinary perspective on critical changes on the land and in the field of conservation. The book:

  • provides a general overview of the impact of new technologies and networks
  • explores the potentially disruptive impacts of the new networks on open space and biodiversity
  • presents case studies of innovative ways that conservation organizations are using the new networks to pursue their missions
  • considers how rapid change in the Internet Age offers the potential for landmark conservation initiatives
Conservation in the Internet Age is the first book to examine the links among land use, technology, and conservation from multiple perspectives, and to suggest areas and initiatives that merit further investigation. It offers unique and valuable insight into the challenges facing the land and biodiversity conservation community in the early twenty-first century, and represents an important new work for policymakers, conservation professionals, and academics in planning, design, conservation and resource management, policy, and related fields.


Review Quotes

"Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats and Opportunities provides numerous blueprints for harnessing new technologies to actually improve land-use decisions."
Audubon

"This will be an important addition to public and academic libraries. It will be of value to university students, people who are concerned about conservation, and interested general-audience readers."
Science Books & Films

Contents

Foreword \ Thomas J. Vilsack, Governor of Iowa
Acknowledgments
 
Chapter 1. Introduction \ James N. Levitt
 
PART I. Precedents and Prospects
Chapter 2. Networks and Nature in the American Experience \ James N. Levitt
Chapter 3. The Internet, New Urban Patterns, and Conservation \ William J. Mitchell
 
Part II. The Potential Impact of New Networks on Land Use and Biodiversity
Chapter 4. The Rural Rebound of the 1990s and Beyond \ Kenneth M. Johnson
Chapter 5. Farmland in the Age of the Internet: "Let Them Eat Electrons"? \ Ralph E. Grossi
Chapter 6. Internet Use in a High-Growth, Amenity-Rich Region \ James N. Levitt and John R. Pitkin
Chapter 7. Rural Development and Biodiversity: A Case Study of Greater Yellowstone \ Andrew J. Hansen and Jay J. Rotella
 
Part III. Harnessing the Power of New Networks to Achieve Conservation Objectives
Chapter 8. The Green Internet: A Tool for Conservation Science \ Leonard Krishtalka, A. Townsend Peterson, David A. Vieglais, James H. Beach, and E. O. Wiley
Chapter 9. BirdSong: Using Birds, Citizen Science, and the Internet as Tools for Global Monitoring \ John W. Fitzpatrick and Frank B. Gill
Chapter 10. Conservation Advocacy and the Internet: The Campaign to Save Laguna San Ignacio \ S. Jacob Scherr
Chapter 11. Envisioning Rural Futures: Using Innovative Software for Community Planning \ William Roper and Brian H. F. Muller
 
Part IV. The Internet Age as Context for Conservation Innovation
Chapter 12. The Watershed Approach, Biodiversity, and Community Preservation: Bold Initiatives in Conservation in Massachusetts \ Bob Durand and Sharon McGregor
Chapter 13. Natural Amenities and Locational Choice in the New Economy \ Joel S. Hirschborn
Chapter 14. Conservation Philanthropy and Leadership: The Role of Network Entrepreneurs \ Peter R. Stein and James N. Levitt
Chapter 15. Conclusion: A Call for Conservation Innovation \ James N. Levitt
 
Works Cited
About the Contributors
Index