Wildlands Philanthropy ─ The Great American Tradition

Wildlands Philanthropy takes readers on a visually spectacular tour of natural landmarks from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego and around globe. With more than 175 color photographs and a large-format design, Wildlands Philanthropy is a book grand enough to tell the inspiring stories of people who saved extraordinary places. From Muir Woods National Monument to Acadia National Park, from beloved icons to obscure natural areas, the 40 parks, refuges, and sanctuaries featured in the book represent the incredible diversity of wildlife habitats that have been saved through private initiative during the past century. The amazing people who invested their passion and wealth to secure these scenic treasures come from every walk of life and every corner of the country, suggesting that everyone — regardless of means — can join the great American tradition of individual action on behalf of wild nature.

Tom Butler?is the editorial projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, and a long-time conservation activist focused on wilderness and biodiversity. He is a founding board member and current vice president of the Northeast Wilderness Trust, the only land trust in the northeastern United States focused exclusively on protecting forever-wild landscapes. His book?Wild Earth: Wild Ideas for a World Out of Balance?collected essays from the conservation journal Butler edited from 1997–2005. For?Wildlands Philanthropy, he immersed himself in the creation stories of parks, refuges, and nature preserves established over the span of a century. In these tales of struggle and success he found both inspiration and a greater appreciation for the way protected areas have richly affected the American experience, offering blessings of beauty, wildness, and hope to future generations.

A professional nature photographer, editor, and conservationist,?Antonio Vizcaino?uses beauty to help foster a new culture that respects the value of nature. A Mexican citizen but full-time world traveler, he studied at the International School of Photography in New York, and over the past two decades has published twenty books. He is co-founder of America Natural, a conservation organization that employs landscape photography as its primary means of communication. In 2001 he launched an ongoing expedition to photograph outstanding natural areas from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska. By contributing these images to environmental education campaigns, Vizcaino seeks to increase protection for the extraordinary biodiversity of the Americas. For?Wildlands Philanthropy, he photographed forty protected areas in eight countries.

Tom Brokaw?headed the NBC Nightly News for more than twenty years, retiring in 2004 as the most watched and most popularly acclaimed network news anchorperson in the United States. Beyond being a television journalist and best-selling author of?The Greatest Generation, Brokaw is an avid conservationist and humanitarian, serving on the boards of the American Museum of Natural History and the International Rescue Committee. In 2005 Brokaw was honored with the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks by the National Parks Conservation Association.