This Contested Land

The Storied Past and Uncertain Future of America’s National Monuments

By: McKenzie Long

Narrated by: McKenzie Long

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

One woman's enlightening trek through the natural histories, cultural stories, and present perils of thirteen national monuments

Starting amid the sagebrush of Bears Ears National Monument on the eve of the Trump Administration's decision to reduce the site by eighty-five percent, McKenzie Long climbs sandstone cliffs, is awed by Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings, and is intrigued by 4,000-year-old petroglyphs. She hikes through remote pink canyons recently removed from the boundary of Grand Staircase-Escalante, skis to a backcountry hut in Maine to view a truly dark night sky, snorkels in warm Hawaiian waters to plumb the meaning of marine preserves, volunteers near the most contaminated nuclear site in the US, and witnesses firsthand the diverse forms of devotion evoked by the Rio Grande. In essays both contemplative and resonant, this book confronts an unjust past and imagines a collaborative future that bears witness to these regions' enduring Indigenous connections.

From climate change realities to volatile tensions between economic development and environmental conservation, practical and philosophical issues arise as Long seeks the complicated and often overlooked stories of these incomparable places. Her journey emphasizes in clear and urgent terms the unique significance of, and grave threats to, these contested lands.

©2022 McKenzie Long (P)2023 Tantor

Great car ride listen

This book is great. It’s not only a book that talks about the author’s personal experiences and those she interviewed, but also goes in depth about the history of national monuments and what the monuments mean to multiple groups of people. The good, the bad, and the heartwarming. The story weaves in facts about nature and birds, design elements, thoughtful questions and multiple perspectives. Her usage of color and descriptors makes you feel like you are at the monuments and her passions really come through as she reads the book.

It’s definitely worth a listen especially if you are on a road trip exploring parks and the natural world.

This is an amazing book - very interesting

If you like the outdoors, care about our environment, and just like reading about very interesting places, buy this book. It is told in a very easy to listen to way. My wife and I listened to it while traveling in New Zealand, it was wonderful. At the airport ready to fly back to the US we were looking for our next trip to one of the many monuments talked about in this book. Listen to this --- you will not be sorry. DOC