Dave Dempsey has not only worked to preserve and protect the wild, he has loved it, felt it, and lived it. He shares in this book a deep sense of knowing that reaches well beyond mere understanding, relating experiences and insights gathered from forty years in conservation advocacy and environmental policy--and more than forty years of walks through forests and along lakes, rivers, and streams, often with his beloved dogs as companions. Beautifully articulated, with knowledge, feeling and history: a must-read for newcomers and veterans alike in environmental policy and conservation. --Thomas C. Bailey, retired executive director of the Little Traverse Conservancy, and author of A North Country Almanac: Reflections of an Old-School Conservationist in a Modern World -- - The wise, instructive, lyrical essays in Half Wild: People, Dogs, and Environmental Policy make for very fine company indeed. --Alison Swan, author of A Fine Canopy -- - Gentle, profound. In Half Wild , we walk with Dave Dempsey and his beloved canine kin, through their joys exploring mysterious lands and waters of the Great Lakes, and through decades of environmental challenges and advocacy. Part memoir, part environmental studies, part profiles in courage and commitment, this volume by one of our most acclaimed Great Lakes advocates interweaves the lessons of history with deeper lessons of the heart.

--Lynne Heasley, author of The Accidental Reef and Other Ecological Odysseys in the Great Lakes -- -.