Half Wild: People, Dogs, and Environmental Policy

Humans and canines have been cohabitating for centuries, straddling a boundary that allows us to live together within and across our species. In this empathetic volume, author Dave Dempsey explores this life on the border, the overlapping planes between humans and the nonhuman world that lead to both magnificent creation and appalling destruction. Dempsey's forty-year career as an environmentalist gives this book a nuanced context that could only be afforded by someone who has lived a half-wild existence himself, both defending and expanding the range of protections afforded to other species. As the former environmental advisor to Michigan Governor James J. Blanchard, Dempsey's recollections also provide a unique perspective on the history of environmental policy, ruminating on how such policy reflects the way we understand ourselves in relation to the environment. Through vignettes that recall personal stories and those that outline historical events that influenced policymaking, Dempsey calls attention to the philosophical question of how we as humans relate to animals and our environment.

Author: Dave Dempsey
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
Published: 09/01/2022
Pages: 114
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 8.82h x 5.91w x 0.16d
ISBN13: 9781611864434
ISBN10: 1611864437
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | General
- Nature | Essays
- Nature | Environmental Conservation & Protection | General

About the Author
DAVE DEMPSEY is the author and coauthor of thirteen nonfiction books and received the Michigan Author Award from the Michigan Library Association and the Michigan Center for the Book in 2009. He is a former policy advisor to the International Joint Commission and former member of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.