Abstract
Most readers of this journal share an abiding love of this beautiful island, and an interest in its history. Our purpose in this issue is to explore its environmental history in that spirit. The essays here do so in different ways, but always with a historical method that we share in common. A starting point is an idea of history that is not primarily about the past. It is about change. This approach links memories of the past to experiences in the present, and anticipations of the future—in ongoing processes of change and continuity.
One way to study historical change is to think of it as a mix of gains and losses. The environmental history of Mount Desert Island is a case in point. Some processes of ecological change in this small place have been driven by large causes that reach far beyond this island. Much recent writing by historians and scientists has tended to center on global patterns of environmental destruction in the modern era. Dominant themes are environmental pollution, atmospheric change, warming climate, rising sea levels, habitat destruction, and loss of species in plants and animals.