Benton MacKaye

Conservationist, Planner, and Creator of the Appalachian Trail

Larry Anderson

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9780801877919
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Architecture General
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Planner and originator of the Appalachian Trail and a cofounder of the Wilderness Society, Benton MacKaye (1879-1975) was a pioneer in linking the concepts of preservation and recreation. Spanning three-quarters of a century, his long and productive career had a major impact on emerging movements in conservation, environmentalism, and regional planning. MacKaye's seminal ideas on outdoor recreation, wilderness protection, land-use planning, community development, and transportation have inspired generations of activists, professionals, and adventurers seeking to strike a harmonious balance between human need and the natural environment.

This pathbreaking biography provides the first complete portrait of this significant and unique figure in American environmental, intellectual, and cultural history. Drawing on extensive research, Larry Anderson traces MacKaye's extensive career, examines his many published works, and describes the importance of MacKaye's relationships with such influential figures as Lewis Mumford, Aldo Leopold, and Walter Lippmann. This book will appeal to students, scholars, and professionals in preservation, conservation, recreation, planning, and American studies, as well as general readers interested in these subjects.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 The MacKaye Inheritance, 1879–1896
• 2 From Harvard Yard to the “Primaevial Forest,” 1896–1903
• 3 The Education of a Progressive Forester, 1903–1911
• 4 Raising Hell, 1911–1915
• 5 Reclaiming America’s Wild Lands for Work and Play, 1915–1916
• 6 Employment and Natural Resources, 1917–1919
• 7 Turning Point, 1919–1921
• 8 First Steps along the Appalachian Trail, 1921–1923
• 9 The Regional Planning Association of America and the Appalachian Trail Conference, 1923–1925
• 10 The New Exploration, 1925–1928
• 11 Trailwork and the “Townless Highway,” 1928–1931
• 12 “RP = TH + AT + HT,” a Formula for the New Deal, 1931–1933
• 13 The Tennessee Valley Authority, 1934–1936
• 14 The Wilderness Society, 1934–1936
• 15 “Watershed Democracy,” 1936–1945
• 16 Wilderness in a Changing World, 1937–1950 309
• 17 “Geotechnics of North America,” 1944–1972
• 18 Linking Action with Prophecy, 1953–1975
• Epilogue
• Appendix
• Abbreviations
• Notes
• Note on Sources
• Index