To further understanding of the meanings and values of wilderness, this volume explores wilderness and its significance to humans from myriad viewpoints, based on a meeting of the North American Interdisciplinary Wilderness Conference.

Samuel I. Zeveloff is a professor at Weber State University. He received his PhD from the University of Wyoming and has research interests in mammalian evolutionary ecology and conservation biology. His publications include works on mating system evolution, parental care, and body size patterns. He teaches evolution, conservation biology, and mammalogy.

Mikel Vause is a member of the English department at Weber State University. His academic interests include: 19th Century British and American Literature; The Literature of Mountaineering and Exploration; Western American Literature; Environmental Literature; and the works of Sir A. Conan Doyle. He has led numerous study abroad programs. Vause is the Co-Director and Founder of the National Undergraduate Literature Conference, which is attended yearly by approximately 180 student from across the United States and has hosted a number of the world’s finest literary figures such as Ray Bradbury, Peter Mattheissen, Richard Ford, Carolyn Forche, Ann Beattie, and Tobias Wolff. He is a Co-Director and Founder of the North American Interdisciplinary Conference on Environment and Community which brings internationally recognized scholars and writers to the Ogden community such as David Mech, Sir Christian Bonington, William Kittredge, and Maurice Horknocker, to discuss a broad spectrum of wilderness and environmental and literary issues.