| During the 1970s and 1980s, conservation biology emerged as a new field of ecological science, a natural resource management profession, and an environmental movement dedicated to recovering endangered species and protecting global biological diversity. Although conservation biology drew extensively from the traditional resource management disciplines, such as forestry and wildlife management, it also differed from its predecessors in several important respects. This dissertation draws from the fields of environmental history, the history of science, science and technology studies, and historical geography in order to answer a fundamental question: How has conservation biology shaped the recent history of American natural resource management?; I argue that conservation biology has affected the premises, priorities, and practices of American natural resource management---and indeed conservation in general---in three major ways. First, conservation biologists have worked with their colleagues in other resource management fields to transform the very definition of the word "conservation." Second, although conservation biologists have participated actively in political conflicts, they have also established, mediated, or renegotiated a host of new alliances with individuals and organizations representing a remarkable diversity of perspectives. Third, conservation biologists have expanded the purview of natural resource management into a host of new taxonomic, political, economic, and geographic realms unoccupied by previous generations of resource managers. In this dissertation I draw these conclusions from five intertwined case studies all based in California. These include the histories of the Mojave desert tortoise, California condor, native oak woodlands, the creation of nature reserves, and the conservation of endangered insects. Together, these historical episodes render a rich and diverse set of perspectives on the complex story of conservation biology in California. |
