“Conservation requires conversation; protecting nature while still using it to meet human needs is a paradoxical mission, and its methods depend heavily on time and place. In such terrain, manifestos make lousy guides. Better is a forum such as After Preservation, which not only seats ecomodernists, wilderness purists, bureaucrats, and scientists at the same long, noisy table but also places their positions in historical context.”

New Yorker

“Although environmentalists have traditionally held onto a preservationist philosophy in fending off ecological harms, the omnipresence of human influence makes many now wonder if that approach is still feasible. In this collection of twenty-three spirited and thought-provoking essays, scientists, historians, and activists alike represent a broad spectrum of viewpoints, from conservation at all costs to balancing the natural world’s needs with those of civilization. . . . Everyone concerned with the ongoing debate over wildlife protection will want to study this vitally important contribution to the discussion.”

Booklist

“In this well-rounded and mostly accessible collection, Arizona State University professors Minteer (The Landscape of Reform) and Pyne (Burning Bush) pull together a range of perspectives on contemporary issues in environmental conservation from academics, ecologists, philosophers, and environmental activists. . . . By inviting a range of voices to the discussion, Minteer and Pyne reveal subjects of importance to both themselves and to their peers around the country.”

Publishers Weekly

“Minteer and Pyne have compiled a variety of opinions from twenty-six environmental specialists on a provocative subject. . . . Overall, the writings illustrate a deep division of American opinion on how to preserve the environment. After Preservation would be a useful resource for university seminars.”
 

Choice

“This is neither a predictable text on environmentalist refusals nor a whistle-in-the-dark expression of shallow optimism about humanity’s great future as a planetary conquering force. This is a great swirl of debate at this critical crossroads in the relationship between humans and the rest of nature. No holds here are barred. In prose sometimes pragmatic and sometimes anguished, some of the best minds in the business—some of the wisest people around today—argue about our place in nature, what it could be, what it should be, what it is, what it will be, and what we must not let it become. I regret that my own book deadline prevented me from contributing to this work. Feeling left out is my highest praise.”

Carl Safina, author of The View From Lazy Point and Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel.

“Whether you like the label ‘Anthropocene’ or not, whether you find the prospect of what it signifies inevitable or appalling (or both), the time has come to address its implications, as these thoughtful, battle-tested authors attempt to do. The time has long since come.” 

David Quammen, author of Spillover

“After Preservation asks one of the big, hairy, audacious questions of the early twenty-first century: How should humans relate to Nature in the Anthropocene? Minteer and Pyne have assembled an impressive assortment of contributors to offer a wide-ranging set of answers in concise, poignant, and powerful essays. This is an important and timely contribution that should be read by people working to construct a thriving and sustainable future.” 

R. Bruce Hull, author of Infinite Nature