New Scholarship

Henderson, Clay. Forces of Nature: A History of Florida Land Conservation. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2022. xiv+439 pp. Illustrations, maps, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. Starting with early naturalists like William Bartram and John Muir who inspired the movement to create national parks and protect the country’s wilderness, this book describes the efforts of familiar heroes like Marjory Stoneman Douglas and May Mann Jennings and introduces lesser known champions like Frank Chapman, who helped convince Theodore Roosevelt to establish Pelican Island as the first national wildlife refuge in the United States. Drawing on historical sources, interviews, and his own long career in environmental law, the author recounts the many small victories over time that helped Florida create several units of the national park system, nearly thirty national wildlife refuges, and one of the best state park systems in the country.