Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-323) and index.

Nature as a commodity : Native Americans, white settlers, and the Land Ordinance of 1785 -- Controlling water in the early industrialization of New England -- Scientific forestry and the emergence of conservation -- Property rights, technology, and environmental protection : hydraulic gold miners v. farmers in California -- Wildlife conservation : the slaughter and salvation of the bison -- "Reclaiming" the arid West -- Preservation vs. conservation : the epic fight over Yosemite's Hetch-Hetchy Valley -- Progressive women and "municipal housekeeping" : Caroline Bartlett Crane's fight for improved meat inspection -- Getting the lead out : public health and the debate over tetraethyl leaded gasoline -- Causes and consequences of the dust bowl -- The Donora disaster and the problem of air pollution -- Rachel Carson, Cesar Chavez, and the pesticide debate -- Love Canal and the grassroots movement against toxic waste -- The Endangered Species Act : the rights of nature? -- Three Mile Island and the search for a national energy policy. Uses textual analysis, primary source documents, and an issues-centered approach to introduce American environmental history,