Rating: 
Summary: A must read for everyone on the Planet...
Review: Scientists, working for the US Government, are assigned a task regarding an endangered species or an endangered habitat. They report their finding honestly, and make recommendations based on their data. The private industry hears about these reports and the recommendations are not welcome: private logging companies, who use roads built with US tax dollars, don't want to hear about how their logging activities are driving the bull trout to extinction. The all-terrain vehicle industries don't want to hear about how ORV enthusiasts are tearing up desert lands, driving the desert tortoise to extinction. In spite of literally hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles published in main stream journals, the private industry claims the data gathered by the US Government scientists are weak at best, and do not prove anything. Politicians, who received huge campaign contributions from private industry, hear complaints from the loggers, ORV enthusiasts, and so forth, and start a cycle that will destroy the biologist that was only doing his or her job. They attempt to silence the scientist by reassigning them to a desk job, or cut the funding for their research back enough to cripple the entire research process. The book angered me. I felt so helpless in the sea of bureaucracy that is allowing the last of our natural lands to being 'sold down the river' to special interest. The deserts are 'meant' to be play boxes for ORVs, the forests are 'meant' to be clear cut and sold to Japan, the caves are 'meant' to be exploited by mineral and oil companies. It's such a shame that these mindsets exist, at the expense of the environment. Scientists are trying to figure out what the actions of humankind are doing to the environment, but the forces that be do everything in their power to put a stop to it. Science is indeed, under attack by the status quo and our political state. This book documents the rape of Mother Earth for quick, Capitalistic gain. With philosophies like 'Manifest Destiny' and Capitalism, we are sure to eventually suffer the fate of extinction like so many hundreds of other plants and animals we made march down that dreary road. We actually believe that we are 100% separated from nature, and we rationalize why we should even allow species to exist that don't have utilitarian 'value'. Those that simply don't understand often say 'Why keep the kit fox [or any of the other endangered species] around, they are worthless animals'. We are cutting the threads of a complex web, several species at a time. Sure, the web can stand some change and does adjust, but too much change will bring the web down in the form of environmental catastrophe. Before you toss that beer can out the car window, or pour that motor oil down the drain, please consider your actions. There is absolutely no guesswork here; we are cutting our own throats every time we do something along these lines that we naively consider insignificant. And, on the other side of the coin, huge activities like clear-cutting, are obviously detrimental to the environment; just look at the fish and the frogs, they are telling us what's happening loud and clear. They are the ones are actually speaking for Mother Earth. One day, humankind may actually listen to them.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for everyone on the Planet...
Review: Scientists, working for the US Government, are assigned a task regarding an endangered species or an endangered habitat. They report their finding honestly, and make recommendations based on their data. The private industry hears about these reports and the recommendations are not welcome: private logging companies, who use roads built with US tax dollars, don't want to hear about how their logging activities are driving the bull trout to extinction. The all-terrain vehicle industries don't want to hear about how ORV enthusiasts are tearing up desert lands, driving the desert tortoise to extinction. In spite of literally hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles published in main stream journals, the private industry claims the data gathered by the US Government scientists are weak at best, and do not prove anything. Politicians, who received huge campaign contributions from private industry, hear complaints from the loggers, ORV enthusiasts, and so forth, and start a cycle that will destroy the biologist that was only doing his or her job. They attempt to silence the scientist by reassigning them to a desk job, or cut the funding for their research back enough to cripple the entire research process. The book angered me. I felt so helpless in the sea of bureaucracy that is allowing the last of our natural lands to being 'sold down the river' to special interest. The deserts are 'meant' to be play boxes for ORVs, the forests are 'meant' to be clear cut and sold to Japan, the caves are 'meant' to be exploited by mineral and oil companies. It's such a shame that these mindsets exist, at the expense of the environment. Scientists are trying to figure out what the actions of humankind are doing to the environment, but the forces that be do everything in their power to put a stop to it. Science is indeed, under attack by the status quo and our political state. This book documents the rape of Mother Earth for quick, Capitalistic gain. With philosophies like 'Manifest Destiny' and Capitalism, we are sure to eventually suffer the fate of extinction like so many hundreds of other plants and animals we made march down that dreary road. We actually believe that we are 100% separated from nature, and we rationalize why we should even allow species to exist that don't have utilitarian 'value'. Those that simply don't understand often say 'Why keep the kit fox [or any of the other endangered species] around, they are worthless animals'. We are cutting the threads of a complex web, several species at a time. Sure, the web can stand some change and does adjust, but too much change will bring the web down in the form of environmental catastrophe. Before you toss that beer can out the car window, or pour that motor oil down the drain, please consider your actions. There is absolutely no guesswork here; we are cutting our own throats every time we do something along these lines that we naively consider insignificant. And, on the other side of the coin, huge activities like clear-cutting, are obviously detrimental to the environment; just look at the fish and the frogs, they are telling us what's happening loud and clear. They are the ones are actually speaking for Mother Earth. One day, humankind may actually listen to them.
Rating:
Summary: Hard hitting
Review: There has been much made about Gloria Flora, the Humboldt Toiyabe forest supervisor in Nevada. Gloria quit her job in disgust over the way Forest Service employees are treated. People in Elko said Gloria was exaggerating the truth. This book proves otherwise. It gives example after example of public employees going through living hell to protect the environment. TWO THUMBS UP
Rating: 
Summary: Reader Beware: This is not *The* "Science Under Seige"
Review: There is an excellent book that scientifically and ethically illustrates how "environmentalists" have lied and deceived to mislead the public and meet their own goals, on numerous issues. Typically, they overstate or fabricate risks, and divert resources from meaningful causes that can provide real benefits. This is not that book. I suggest that anyone with a real concern about how science has been misused in the name of environmentalism read Michael Fumento's "Science under Seige"
Rating:
Summary: A wake up call
Review: This book will shock you and make you mad; it did me. Todd Wilkinson has written a powerful manifesto about whistleblowers. It changed the way I think about government and the people trying to protect our environment
Rating:
Summary: A timely expose of land and wildlife management
Review: This is not a book about Yellowstone, but anyone interested in Yellowstone will probably also be interested in this about what goes on behind the scenes in natural resource agencies. One chapter in particular centers on David Mattson, a champion of Yellowstone grizzlies punished for not toeing the government line, and even wanders into the debate over reconstruction of the North Fork Highway between Cody and Yellowstone Park. With all sides cranking up their fax machines to fire off press releases about the new National Park Service proposal to prohibit snowmobiles in parts of Yellowstone this winter, Science Under Siege is more relevant than ever.
Rating:
Summary: Wilkinson shines light on some major ecological coverups
Review: Todd Wilkinson has the ultimate beat...Planet Earth. I've enjoyed Todd's freelance articles in magazines like Backpacker and High Country News. In this book, he provides a much-needed outlet to some very brave government ecologists and whistleblowers. Read the book if you want to know what is really going on at some of the government agencies responsible for protecting the environment.
Rating:
Summary: Shining Light in a Dark Place
Review: Todd Wilkinson's new book clearly shows that the environmental laws that corporate America decry on a daily basis through propaganda campaigns and congressional hearings are not only not obeyed-- they, and the people that attempt to uphold them, are directly subverted at huge cost to the lives of wild animals and people alike. This book documents vividly the reality of environmental law in America today-- killing the messenger, instead of heeding the message. A must-read for anyone interested in the future of our national lands.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves a place on your bookshelf next to Silent Spring
Review: Wilkinson profiles eight government scientist who were persecuted and harassed for their scientifically-supported views on controversial issues, from the outrageous destruction caused by off-road vehicles in California's fragile Mojave Desert to one former logaholic's effort to revamp the corrupt U.S. Forest Service . . .these eight men have endured the slings and arrows of outrageous politics to conserve the resources our politicians are too short-sighted to protect.
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