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Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape

Amazon.com Price:  $23.17 (as of 03/05/2019 02:02 PST- Details)

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Description

A lavishly illustrated study of the natural and cultural history of the Vermont landscape.

In this book Jan Albers examines the history―natural, environmental, social, and in the end human―of one of The usa’s most cherished landscapes: Vermont. Albers shows how Vermont has come to stand for the ideal of unspoiled rural community, examining both the basis of the state’s pastoral image and the equally real toll taken by the pressure of human hands on the land. She begins with the reasonably light touch of Vermont’s Native Americans, then shows how European settlers―armed with a conviction that their claim to the land used to be “a God-given right”―shaped the landscape both to meet economic needs and to satisfy philosophical beliefs. The incessantly turbulent result: a conflict between practical requirements and romantic ideals that has persisted to these days. Making energetic use of latest accounts, advertisements, maps, landscape paintings, and vintage photographs, Albers delves into the stories and personalities in the back of the development of a succession of Vermont landscapes. She observes the growth of communities from tiny settlements to picturesque villages to bustling cities; traces the development of agriculture, forestry, mining, industry, and the influence of burgeoning technology; and proceeds to the growth of environmental consciousness, aided by both private initiative and governmental regulation. She reveals how as community strengthens, so does responsible stewardship of the land. Albers shows that like any landscape, the Vermont landscape reflects the human decisions which have been made about it―and that the more a community understands about how such decisions have been made, the better will be its future decisions.

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