Bargaining For Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America

Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. First edition. Hardcover. Very good +/fine. SIGNED. 319pp. Octavo [24 cm] 1/2 black cloth with black paper over boards. Some minor shelfwear and bumping to the corners of the dust jackets. From front inside flap: "Beginning with an Olympic ski race in northern Utah, award-winning writer and photographer Stephen Trimble takes a penetrating look at the battles raging over the land - and the soul - of the American West. Bargaining for Eden investigates the high-profile story of a reclusive billionaire who worked relentlessly to acquire public land for his ski resort and to host the Salt Lake Winter Olympics. In a gripping, character-driven narrative based on extensive interviews, Trimble tells of the land-exchange deal that ensued, one of the largest and most controversial in U.S. history, as he deftly explores the inner conflicts, paradoxes, and greed at the hart of land-use disputes from the back rooms of Washington to the grassroots efforts of passionate citizens. Into this mix, Trimble weaves the personal story of how he, a lifelong environmentalist, ironically became a landowner and developer himself, and began to explore the ethics of ownership anew. We travel with Trimble on a fascinating journey that becomes, in the end, a hopeful credo to guide citizens and communities seeking to reinvent their relationship with the American landscape.