Maintaining natural conditions and processes, or “naturalness,” is an essential goal in the management of wilderness, national parks, and other protected areas. Yet management experts routinely recommend the abandonment of naturalness as a required goal in protected areas. There are many examples of native biodiversity being lost or threatened as a result of managers manipulating protected areas to conserve “what we value” without respect for natural conditions. Too often, agencies seemingly ignore environmental goals expressed within federal law and policy in their efforts to satisfy consumer preferences, resulting in environmental degradation.

Naturalness and Biodiversity: Policy and Philosophy of Conserving Natural Areas is primarily concerned with the preservation of national parks, wilderness, and other legally protected areas through proper interpretation and application of federal environmental law and policy. Philosophers, legal scholars, and land use managers alike will appreciate the interdisciplinary approach Prof. Gordon Steinhoff takes with his discussion of philosophy, ecology, and environmental policy. Although Naturalness and Biodiversity may be controversial, calling into question much that has been written by philosophers and by leading land management and restoration experts, it offers a needed response to much that appears in the current environmental literature, providing thoughtful analysis on why naturalness is essential for the preservation of native biodiversity.


Imprint: Environmental Law Institute
Series: Environmental Law Institute
Publication Date: 08/09/2016

Gordon Steinhoff, Utah

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class – on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

  • A new print or digital casebook
  • Access to a downloadable eBook with the ability to highlight and add notes
  • 12-month access to a digital Learning Library complete with:
Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:
  • Chapter questions keyed to the casebook
  • Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
  • Subject area review questions for end of semester use
Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they’ve purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

With CasebookPlus, you can customize your students’ learning experience and monitor their performance. The quiz editor allows you to create your own custom quiz set, suppress specific quiz questions or quiz sets, and time-release quiz questions. Additionally, the flexible, customized reporting capability helps you evaluate your students’ understanding of the material and can also help your school demonstrate compliance with the new ABA Assessment and Learning Outcomes standards.

Learn more about this series.