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Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making. Second edition. Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1999. xviii+616 pp. Figures, tables, illustrations, photos, color plates, notes, references, index. $50.00 cloth (ISBN 1-55963-487-1), $30.00 paper (ISBN 1-55963-488-X).
The combination of science and human endeavor helps us understand nature, express ourselves as humans, and shape the environments in which we live. People wish to make decisions promoting the integrity of the ecological processes we depend on, along with the social and financial health of human communities and organizations. While we can effectively apply mechanical principles to activities such as air travel, we still have trouble managing complex situations involving ecological and human systems. It is easy to drive or fly across the Great Plains. It is more difficult to solve questions of aquifer decline, exotic plant invasion, or depopulation of agriculturally based communities. In any situation our management efforts will be...