A probing study of the way diverse conceptions of nature shape our responses to specific environmental issues, this book examines the recent clash over a proposed deer hunt on the largest public watershed in Massachusetts, the Quabbin reservoir. In analyzing this public dispute, Jan E. Dizard draws on a wide range of sources, including interviews with resource managers, animal rights advocates, hunters, and environmentalists. He shows how each faction, while sharing some common ground with the others, projects different meanings onto nature.