Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman: Conservation Heroes of the American Heartland

by Miriam Horn

Overview

Now a feature-length documentary on the Discovery channel narrated by Tom Brokaw.

“Lush, gorgeously written…A profoundly hopeful book.” —Tina Rosenberg, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

A Kirkus Best Book of 2016

Many of the men and women doing today’s most consequential environmental work—restoring America’s grasslands, wildlife, soil, rivers, wetlands, and oceans—would not call themselves environmentalists; they would be too uneasy with the connotations of that word. What drives them is their deep love of the land: the iconic terrain where explorers and cowboys, pioneers and riverboat captains forged the American identity. They feel a moral responsibility to preserve this heritage and natural wealth, to ensure that their families and communities will continue to thrive.

Unfolding as a journey down the Mississippi River, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman tells the stories of five representatives of this stewardship movement: a Montana rancher, a Kansas farmer, a Mississippi riverman, a Louisiana shrimper, and a Gulf fisherman. In exploring their work and family histories and the essential geographies they protect, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman challenges pervasive and powerful myths about American and environmental values.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393354874
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	1,126,851
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Miriam Horn is the author of two previous books, including the New York Times best-selling Earth: The Sequel. She works at Environmental Defense Fund and lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

"Miriam Horn weaves a picture of hope from the stories of five Americans whose work places them on the front lines of conservation. Their compelling stories illuminate the complexity of the challenges posed by a changing climate, and teach that the solutions must be grounded in humanity as well as in science. A marvelous and inspiring book."

Frederic C. Rich

"A book of wide-screen vision and pinpoint detail, cinched tight to the middle of the country. With understanding, skill, and passion, Miriam Horn tells the stories of men and women who wrest their living from a varied environment while working hard to preserve it. Her writing is always enlightening, often a delight."

Ian Frazier

Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman showcases the people I consider the real unsung heroes of conservation in America: the landowners themselves. Successful conservation in this country requires leadership by the people closest to the land, not just regulators in Washington, D.C.... Horn's book should be required reading for everyone who is concerned about how we will sustain American food production and help feed the world while protecting our limited land and water resources.--Howard G. Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

All of these valiant men and women, writes the author, are fiercely protective of the land and sea and its bounty not only because these delicately balanced ecosystems directly support their livelihoods, but because there is also an enduring love of the land itself and an allegiance to preserve it...An optimistic journal of promise for the future.-- "Kirkus (starred review)"

Horn's intimate profiles reveal undervalued environmental change makers while countering popular notions of what it means to be a conservationist.-- "Publishers Weekly"

Horn's prose flows with the river north to south...[A]n essential read...fascinating.-- "Library Journal"

Refreshingly, in what could have been an extremely political title, Horn and her subjects go out of their way to illustrate how it is only through taking an apolitical and far-reaching view of environmental issues that true success can be found...interesting, even revolutionary ways...to approach conservation issues.-- "Booklist (starred review)"

A book of wide-screen vision and pinpoint detail, cinched tight to the middle of the country. With understanding, skill, and passion, Miriam Horn tells the stories of men and women who wrest their living from a varied environment while working hard to preserve it. Her writing is always enlightening, often a delight.--Ian Frazier

Miriam Horn weaves a picture of hope from the stories of five Americans whose work places them on the front lines of conservation. Their compelling stories illuminate the complexity of the challenges posed by a changing climate, and teach that the solutions must be grounded in humanity as well as in science. A marvelous and inspiring book.--Frederic C. Rich, author of Getting to Green

The most powerful, compelling, and eloquent solutions for our problems come from the inside. In this lush, gorgeously written book, Miriam Horn shows men and women preserving the natural world around them--not out of an abstract sense of environmentalism, but because they love the land and water, their communities, and way of life. A profoundly hopeful book.--Tina Rosenberg, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, co-founder of Solutions Journalism Network

From the Publisher

05/23/2016
Horn (Earth: The Sequel, cowritten with Fred Krupp), a former journalist now at the Environmental Defense Fund, shines a light on “conservation heroes” who are leading ambitious environmental initiatives in their communities and beyond. Human activities, such as the overharvesting of fish and the overtilling of fertile soil, continue to compromise the biodiversity of landscapes around the world; to balance the scales, Horn offers redemptive portraits of five stewards of the American heartland whose daily work “has itself become the path to restoration.” Unlike the policy makers who remain distant from the practical effects of their policies, these five—a Montana rancher, a Kansas farmer, a Mississippi riverman, a Louisiana shrimper, and a Gulf of Mexico fisherman—are “real Americans” whose “livelihoods and communities will live or die with these ecosystems.” Motivated by deep allegiances to the places they live, as well as an understanding of the “irreducible interdependency” between humans and nature, these individuals are taking radical steps toward sustainability: one restores depleted soils through industrial-scale farming methods, and another advocates for fishing regulations that will support the long-term regrowth of threatened red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. Horn’s intimate profiles reveal undervalued environmental change makers while countering popular notions of what it means to be a conservationist. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"There’s much to be hopeful about in this book and many lessons on what it takes to build the kinds of bridges and foundations that make democracy possible, even in a divided nation."

Nation - Madeline Ostrander

"Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman showcases the people I consider the real unsung heroes of conservation in America: the landowners themselves. Successful conservation in this country requires leadership by the people closest to the land, not just regulators in Washington, D.C.… Horn’s book should be required reading for everyone who is concerned about how we will sustain American food production and help feed the world while protecting our limited land and water resources."

Howard G. Buffett

"Refreshingly, in what could have been an extremely political title, Horn and her subjects go out of their way to illustrate how it is only through taking an apolitical and far-reaching view of environmental issues that true success can be found…interesting, even revolutionary ways…to approach conservation issues."

Booklist (starred review)

"The most powerful, compelling, and eloquent solutions for our problems come from the inside. In this lush, gorgeously written book, Miriam Horn shows men and women preserving the natural world around them—not out of an abstract sense of environmentalism, but because they love the land and water, their communities, and way of life. A profoundly hopeful book."

Tina Rosenberg

"Wonderful... vital."

Outside - Craig Fehrman

06/15/2016
In this penetrating book, Horn (Earth: The Sequel) explores the lives and philosophies of five unlikely conservationists: a Montana rancher, a Kansas farmer, a Mississippi riverman, a Louisiana shrimper, and a Gulf fisherman. The Mississippi River watershed—the "immense funnel" that drains more than 40 percent of the continental United States—forms the backdrop of the volume, and readers will learn about the area firsthand from those for whom it's a "working landscape." Although their issues differ, the men and women portrayed share a deep knowledge about their places, a few having family connections going back generations. Horn takes a nuanced look at their environmentalism, noting how they eschew "ideological trenches"; how they strive toward a large, inclusive vision that balances long-term ecological values with immediate economic ones; and how they comprehend the interconnectedness of things, such as how the Kansas farmer's decisions about crop fertilization could impact the fisherman's harvest thousands of miles downstream. Horn's prose flows with the river north to south, neatly reinforcing a recurrent theme of working with nature, not against it. VERDICT For those with a special interest in environmental issues, this is an essential read; for more general readers, the trip down Ol' Muddy promises a fascinating itinerary.—Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont.

Library Journal

Miriam Horn offers an audiobook about the interdependence of those making a difference in the environment. A Montana rancher whose land is protected by the Nature Conservancy, a Kansas farmer schooled in the latest soil preservation techniques, a Louisiana shrimper who helps Asian-Americans with fishing, and a barge owner's balancing act between the environment and business demands are among the stories. Narrator Chris Ciulla captures mood and feeling well as Horn reveals their lives and concerns. The effects of Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster are also considered. Horn's writing provides an overview of techniques such as continuous no-till agriculture and mob grazing while giving listeners insights into the lives of those who work the land. J.A.S.v © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile

★ 2016-06-12
Journalistic portraits of pioneering farmers, harvesters, and conservationists unafraid to fight for the protection of the American landscapes they cultivate.Covering territory from the rambling Northwest to the Louisiana bayou, journalist Horn (co-author: Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming, 2008, etc.) delivers a cautionary yet compelling chronicle spotlighting threatened productive farmlands and introduces "the families who run the tractors and barges and fishing boats who are stepping up to save them." Among those she profiles is a Montana frontiersman who prides himself on veteran stockmanship; he is praised for his effective collaborative strategies with other grassland ranchers and wildlife managers to peaceably "keep both livestock and wild carnivores alive." In other sections, a Kansas prairie farmer uses environmentally trailblazing strategies to refertilize depleted soil after years of devastating drought conditions, and a marine transportation company CEO maintains a commitment to improved efficiency of his operations to preserve and maintain the Mississippi River's infrastructure. Horn then directs her focus to the sea, which is just as endangered as the land and in need of dedicated champions like the Vietnamese shrimper who fights for the preservation of Louisiana's estuaries and aquacultures and a Gulf of Mexico fisherman dedicated to balancing both commercial and sport fishing in the gulf to appease recreational anglers while keeping small, family-run businesses afloat. All of these valiant men and women, writes the author, are fiercely protective of the land and sea and its bounty not only because these delicately balanced ecosystems directly support their livelihoods, but because there is also an enduring love of the land itself and an allegiance to preserve it. A founder of the Clean Energy Program at the Environmental Defense Fund, Horn translates her passion for ecological balance and environmental sustainability into this passionate, unwavering tapestry of "conservation heroes" dedicated to coexisting with their American agricultural terrains. An optimistic journal of promise for the future and a supremely motivational text for readers interested in Earth's compromised biodiversity.

Kirkus Reviews