EDITORS: Photo available on request.

ANN ARBOR—Long before controversy erupted concerning conservation in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), battles to protect Michigan’s forests, fish and wildlife were being waged.

Dave Dempsey, environmental adviser to Michigan Gov. James Blanchard and a professional in environmental policy since 1982, traces the evolution of the public movement to conserve Michigan’s environment since the late 1800s in his book “Ruin and Recovery: Michigan’s Rise as a Conservation Leader.” Through the vivid personalities of the state’s conservation and environmental leaders and their dramatic struggles, Dempsey illustrates that a public clamor for conservation has always been the primary force in Michigan’s national leadership. It also documents the boom-and-bust nature of the state’s policies toward its natural resources, which has prompted both public outrage and successful reform movements.  

“Dave Dempsey has sketched the story of how Michigan’s leadership in protecting its natural heritage came to be,” says former Michigan Gov. William G. Milliken, who wrote the foreword for the book. “It is my hope that this book will inspire others to carry on this conservation tradition and to assure the quality of life and beauty of landscape that we know in Michigan far into the future.”

“Ruin and Recovery,” 368 pages with 20 photographs, published by the University of Michigan Press is available in bookstores at $42.50 in cloth and $19.95 in paper or through the U-M Press at (734) 764-4388.

Arctic National Wildlife Refugeprofessional in environmental policyUniversity of Michigan Press