Paul R. Krausman

Once plentiful in the mountains of southern Arizona, by the 1990s desert bighorn sheep were wiped out in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness of the Santa Catalina Mountains as a result of habitat loss and alteration. This book uses their history and population decline as a case study in human alteration of wildlife habitat. When human encroachment had driven the herd to extinction, wildlife managers launched a major and controversial effort to reestablish this population. For more than forty years Paul R. Krausman directed studies of the Pusch Wilderness population of these iconic animals, located in the mountainous outskirts of Tucson. The story he tells here reveals the complex relationships between politics and biology in wildlife conservation. His account of the evolution of wildlife conservation practices includes discussions of techniques and of human attitudes toward predators, fire, and their management.

Since the 1970s, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), by virtue of its regulatory impact, has been a frequent subject of policy analysis. In this comprehensive history and critique of the ESA, Brian Czech and Paul R. Krausman incorporate the new model of policy design theory to frame a larger discussion about conservation biology and American democracy. Czech and Krausman provide a historical background of endangered species policy that integrates natural history, socioeconomic trends, political movements, and professional developments. Outlining the controversies surrounding the ESA, they find a connection between challenges to species conservation and challenges to democracy. After an assessment of ESA analyses that have been performed from traditional perspectives, they engage policy design theory to review the structural logic of the ESA, analyzing each clause of the legislation for its application of the fundamental elements of democracy. To address the technical legitimacy of ESA, they propose two new genetic considerations-functional genome size and molecular clock speed-to supplement phylogenetic distinctiveness as criteria with which to prioritize species for conservation. Next, they systematically describe the socioeconomic context of ESA by assessing and classifying the causes of species endangerment. A hybrid of policy analysis and ecological assessment, The Endangered Species Act: History, Conservation Biology, and Public Policy will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of natural resource policy and law, conservation biology, political science, wildlife ecology, and environmental history, and to professionals at agencies involved in wildlife conservation.

Mountain sheep epitomize wilderness for many people because they occupy some of the most inaccessible and rugged habitats known to man, from desert crags to alpine mountains. But of all hoofed mammals in North America, wild sheep present the greatest management problems to biologists. This book is a major reference on the natural history, ecology, and management of wild sheep in North America. Written by wildlife biologists who have devoted years of study to the animals, it covers Dall's and Stone's sheep and Rocky Mountain, California, and desert bighorn and examines a variety of factors pertinent to their life histories: habitat, diet, activity, social organization, reproduction, and population dynamics. Additional chapters consider distribution and abundance, adaptive strategies, and management guidelines. Discussions on diseases of wild sheep present a wealth of information that will be of particular use to wildlife biologists, including detailed clinical descriptions of conditions that threaten sheep populations, from pasteurellosis to capture myopathy. An appendix reviews the cytogenetics and genetics of wild sheep. North American wild sheep may face extinction in many areas unless critical questions concerning their management are answered soon. Prior to the publication of this book, there was no single reference available in which one could find such a synthesis of information. Mountain Sheep of North America provides that source and points toward the preservation of these magnificent wild creatures. Contents-1. Description, Distribution, and Abundance of Mountain Sheep in North America, Raul Valdez and Paul R. Krausman-2. Natural History of Thinhorn Sheep, Lyman Nichols and Fred L. Bunnell-3. Natural History of Rocky Mountain and California Bighorn Sheep, David M. Shackleton, Christopher C. Shank, and Brian M. Wikeem-4. Natural History of Desert Bighorn Sheep, Paul R. Krausman, Andrew V. Sandoval, and Richard C. Etchberger-5. Adaptive Strategies in American Mountain Sheep: Effects of Climate, Latitude and Altitude, Ice Age Evolution, and Neonatal Security, Valerius Geist-6. Diseases of North American Wild Sheep, Thomas D. Bunch, Walter M. Boyce, Charles P. Hibler, William R. Lance, Terry R. Spraker, and Elizabeth S. Williams-7. Management of Bighorn Sheep, Charles L. Douglas and David M. Leslie Jr.-Appendix: Cytogenetics and Genetics, Thomas D. Bunch, Robert S. Hoffmann, and Charles F. Nadler