Blue Ridge 2020: An Owner's Manual

Front Cover
Univ of North Carolina Press, Jul 11, 2003 - Nature - 288 pages
The mountain chain known as the Blue Ridge traces a 550-mile arc through Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. Along the way, it encompasses Shenandoah National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, seven national forests, numerous federal wilderness areas and state parks, and parts of the Appalachian Trail. It is the largest concentration of public lands east of the Mississippi and home to an astonishing diversity of plant and animal life. But as the most extensive natural area in the increasingly populous Southeast, the Blue Ridge ecosystem faces unique challenges in the next decades.
Drawing on scientific research in a variety of disciplines, journalist Steve Nash provides a clear and evenhanded introduction to some of the most hotly disputed environmental issues facing the Blue Ridge, including the invasion of exotic plants and insects, the explosive growth of suburban-style communities in natural areas, worsening air and water pollution, and the erratic management of national forests. Informative and highly readable, Blue Ridge 2020 takes a hard look at what is at risk in these mountains and what we--as the "owners" of the public lands--must do if we intend to preserve their future.

 

Contents

1 PAUPERS
1
2 BALANCE AND DISTURBANCE
13
3 VECTORS
25
4 CHEMICAL FATES
51
5 PALLBEARERS
61
6 IOUs
77
7 ANYPLACE USA
87
8 EDGE
109
9 THE BEGINNING OF NATURE
123
10 AFFORESTATION
129
11 WILD CARDS
151
Sources
161
Bibliography
183
Index
203
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

Steve Nash is associate professor of journalism at the University of Richmond. His reporting on environmental issues has appeared in numerous publications, including BioScience, The Scientist, National Parks, the Washington Post, and the Christian Science Monitor.

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