Get Plum Island!

Get Plum Island! by Karin A. Martin provides a detailed environmental history of the intense struggles over land use on the Massachusetts coast. This volume 1 historical study examines the decade-long conflict during the 1940s regarding the establishment of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. While the refuge remains a premier birding destination today, the book explores how local resistance from six Essex County towns successfully reduced the protected area to half its original size.

This social science and history text analyzes how class, geography, and competing visions of conservation shaped the outcome. The narrative pits elite ornithologists against local farmers, hunters, and working-class citizens who fought to maintain their traditional rights to the land. By documenting these protests and political maneuvers, Get Plum Island! serves as a significant case study in American activism and the complex politics of environmental conservation and federal authority in New England.