Environmental issues such as waste, pollution, and resource exhaustion worked their way toward the top of America's political agenda for the first time in the Progressive Era, roughly 1890-1910. This slim collection of documents from that time seeks to give current conservation efforts a historical context through writings from well- known figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and John Muir as well as often-overlooked texts from women, rural communities, and working-class authors. The editor teaches history at the U. of Cincinnati and is the author of Smokestacks and Progressives: Environmentalists, Engineers, and Air Quality in America, 1881-1951 . Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)