Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2021. First Simon & Schuster paperback edition. Paperback. SIGNED. 338pp. Octavo [21.3cm]. Pictorial wraps with orange and cream lettering. Signed by author on the dedication page in black ink. New. Item #60266
ISBN: 9781982105068
From publisher: “Leave it as it is,” Theodore Roosevelt announced while viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time. “The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.” Roosevelt’s rallying cry signaled the beginning of an environmental fight that still wages today. To reconnect with the American wilderness and with the president who courageously protected it, acclaimed nature writer and New York Times bestselling author David Gessner embarks on a great American road trip guided by Roosevelt’s crusading environmental legacy. Gessner travels to the Dakota badlands where Roosevelt awakened as a naturalist; to Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon where Roosevelt escaped during the grind of his reelection tour; and finally, to Bears Ears, Utah, a monument proposed by Native Tribes that is embroiled in a national conservation fight. Along the way, Gessner questions and reimagines Roosevelt’s vision for today. As Gessner journeys through the grandeur of our public lands, he tells the story of Roosevelt’s life as a pioneering conservationist, offering an arresting history, a powerful call to arms, and a profound meditation on our environmental future.
Proceeds from the sale of this book go to Ken Sleight, often cited as the refernce for the character Seldom Seen Smith in Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang, and his wife Jane. Ken Sleight's property in South Eastern Utah was badly damaged by the 2021 Pack Creek Fire, including his Quonset hut, which housed his office, workshop and around 100 boxes of archived material, including decades of correspondence, participant lists for the countless backcountry trips he guided, and documents related to numerous environmental battles.
Price: $18.00