Humanity's relationship with the natural world is one of the oldest and newest topics in human history. The issue emerged as a distinct field of scholarship in the early 1970s and has been growing steadily ever since. The discipline's territory and sources are rich and varied and include climatic and geological data, court records, archaeological digs and the writings of naturalists, as well as federal and state economic and resource development and conservation policy. This concise reference for students and general readers contains an accessible overview of environmental history; a mini-encyclopaedia of ideas, people, legislation and agencies; a chronology of events and their significance; and a bibliography of books, magazines and journals as well as films, videos, CD-ROMs and online resources. In addition to providing a wealth of factual information, "The Columbia Guide to American Environmental History" explores contentious issues in this much-debated field, from the idea of wilderness to global warming.